


interlocked fingers (eleven)

by icanwriteanything



Category: Buzz (Korea Band), Super Junior, 아는 형님 | Knowing Bros | Ask Us Anything
Genre: (only a little though), Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 08:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17422187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanwriteanything/pseuds/icanwriteanything
Summary: Kyung-hoon (who hasn't been to school for two years) goes back to school and finds himself face to face with his childhood friend, Kim Hee-chul.Due to a misunderstanding in the past, the two friends had a fallout and now, they're meeting each other again.What will happen to the two of them when they are in each other's lives again and past memories haunt their heads?Title from Buzz's new song: Because it's you aka Interlocked fingers. Story inspired by the lyrics of the said song.





	interlocked fingers (eleven)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my first ever Kyungchul fic. It's my first and it turned out to be 30k. Wow I write a lot. Yeah, I thought of this story because my friends on twitter told me to write a fic based on the song so here it is. I hope you like it.
> 
> In this fic, Hee-chul is two years younger than Kyung-hoon even though in real life, he's one year older. He's two years older because Super Junior is the junior (no pun intended)  and Kyung-hoon is the senior.  Guess how many years?
> 
> That's right! Two!
> 
> Hee-chul debuted in 2005 and Buzz debuted on 2003 so there you go.
> 
> Also Tei comes to the story as well and he's the same age as Hee-chul in real life. In here though, he's six years older. It's for the plot so just go with it.
> 
> Like the tags say, this fic contains some homophobic slurs so if you're not a fan of that, then don't read it! It also contains a lot of swears because I have a foul mouth so if you're offended by that too then this is not for you.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the fic!
> 
>  
> 
> -Anima

Kyung-hoon never thought he would be coming back to school.

He had left school because his parents had died of a car accident. Everyone had called _him_ the killer because of how he behaves and what friends he has. Of course, they were all stereotypes and they don’t actually commit the crime. But, friends of his parents and kids in school tutted at them and their attires. Leather jackets, tattoos, lip rings, black nail polish—you name it, folks. Due to the stereotype, there had been accusations of Kyung-hoon being the driver. It was in the local news and the killer was another driver in another car but who gives a crap when everyone around him accuses the police for being wrong or the police for being bias.

All Kyung-hoon's friends do is go to a house and smoke till their chests feel congested. They even drink but that’s about it. There’s no robbery, no murdering of parents and no crimes.

Partially, it is Kyung-hoon's fault for the death of his parents. They were on his way to pick him up from a party he went to with his friends. 

Parties are always good because you can drink and drink; there’s no consequences of drinking and no one stops you. Kyung-hoon needs that sometimes. That’s why he went.

It didn’t help his case when he didn’t cry at the funeral. Why would you when you’re the killer, right? Killers have no remorse so why would they cry suddenly? Although. even if he cried, people would accuse him of faking his feelings so why waste tears on his parents that he somehow murdered, right?

 

The hallways are still the same. A pathway with lockers on every side and the smell of sweaty gym socks in the air. It’s the same for Kyung-hoon but it’s not the same for everyone else. Only he gets to enjoy the feelings of being stared at and judged.

_Glad to know it’s still the same and no one has forgotten. It’s nice to bask in the glory of déjà vu._

“Kyunghoon-ssi,” The principal says whilst he walks towards the brunet.

It’s still the same principal that sat Kyung-hoon down the day after the funeral and told him that he would do whatever it takes to help Kyung-hoon get through it. It’s the same principal that suggested therapies and psychiatrists and gave him leaflets. It’s the same principal that made him quit school because it’s a load of bullshit and he doesn’t need people being nice to him like it’s their job.

“I am glad to see you back in school, Kyunghoon-ssi,” The principal says and Kyung-hoon scoffs.

“There’s one more person in the building that gets you your pay check, right?” The brunet asks.

He shoves the principal to the side to go to the office himself because he’s not walking next to the principal. He doesn’t need to be escorted like he's a criminal.

When he walks in, sitting on the chair opposite the principal is a boy with a shirt that has too many flowers and curls that could be mistaken as a nest. He’s also wearing earrings that Kyung-hoon thinks are daisies and eye-shadow that is in the color of oranges mixed with a bit of pink.

“Kyunghoon-ah,” The boy says and Kyung-hoon’s memories come flooding back.

_Kim Hee-chul._

Hee-chul and Kyung-hoon used to be best friends; they were best friends from childhood because Hee-chul lived next door. Their parents were quite close and it’s due to their parents being high school best friends that these two met.

Then, around middle school, Kyung-hoon’s dad started drinking a lot due to stress at work and his parents started fighting. On the first fight, Kyung-hoon was seen crying in the streets by this guy called Sung-hee and Sung-hee asked Kyung-hoon if he wanted to go to a gathering where they will be loads of booze. He gravitated more towards them and him and Hee-chul lost contact.

Those friends are the ones that people think are “troublemakers” and those friends were there for him when Hee-chul wasn’t.

 

“Kim Hee-chul,” He greets with a low, uninterested voice.

He sits next to Hee-chul and Hee-chul stares at him as soon as he sits.

“So, you _are_ back,” Hee-chul exhales out a big breath. “I didn’t know the student I was going to be helping was you, Hoonie.”

Kyung-hoon flinches as soon as he hears the nickname.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” He grits with his teeth.

The brunet scoffs.

“Don’t call me your precious nickname and give me that sympathetic bullshit. I don’t need people walking on eggshells around me and I certainly don’t need people feeling sorry for me. You don’t have to be nice to me.”

Kyung-hoon turns to Hee-chul and gives him a smirk.

“Now, how about that, Chullie?” He asks as his smirk stretches across his lips.

The principal walks in with a red face and Kyung-hoon knows it’s not due to his anger.  It might be, but the office is upstairs, and the flight of stairs are not kind to an over weighed forty-year-old man.

“Kyunghoon-ssi,” He huffs and puffs. “You are supposed to walk to the office with me. I was supposed to take you to administration to sort out your timetable and your locker.”

 _Ah, so that’s also why he’s gone all red._ He went to administration and if Kyung-hoon is correct and nothing's changed, you have to go to the end of a very long corridor.

“I see you’ve met Heechul-ah,” He says and gives a big smile to Hee-chul.

 _Heechul-ah?_   _So, the curly haired imbecile is buddy with the principal then. Who knew?_

_I guess it’s true when they say that similar people are attracted to each other._

_The curly haired is still that same nerd that wants to do good and study hard. Nothing has changed in this school._

“Hee-chul will be helping you out in school—you know, anything you want him to help you in. Showing you around or helping you with the class materials,” The principal slides a piece of paper across the table. “You’ve been gone for two years so you need someone around to get you up to date.”

Kyung-hoon picks up the paper and looks at it.

“Your timetable is the same as Hee-chul’s. I’ve also swapped the lockers so that yours is next to Hee-chul’s.”

“I don’t need this idiot's help,” Kyung-hoon looks at Hee-chul from head to toe with a disgust. “I will adapt on my own—doesn’t matter about the two years absence.”

 

Yeah, Kyung-hoon is finishing up his last year of high school. He should have finished two years ago but his parents passed away two years ago. So, he left, and Principal Kang tried to track him and bring him back to school. Eventually after a year, he stopped because it was Kyung-hoon's decision to leave, and he can’t just force something on a kid. It’s just like you can’t force a dream on a kid and tell that kid to go be a doctor when he clearly wants to be a singer.

 

“Min Kyung-hoon, you should take my help; unless you want to be beaten up or killed, you need a friend to look out for you.”

“Oh! So, you’re my bodyguard!?” Kyung-hoon laughs bitterly. “You paid your favorite kid, gave him pocket money for him to be my bodyguard.”

“Min Kyung-hoon, stop it,” Kim Hee-chul says in a stern voice.

“So, they look at you and get intimidated? You, wearing your flower shirt with your flower earrings and your girly eye-shadow. They quake in fear at the sight of you?”

Kyung-hoon scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“Hey! Your attire has nothing to do with your personality and your character, you son of a bitch,” Hee-chul yells. “You, of all people, should know that, Hoonie!”

Kyung-hoon flinches again.

"That's fucking right! I will call you that nickname because it will infuriate you. Can you feel the blood boiling inside you, Hoonie?” 

“Heechul-ssi, you should mind your language,” The principal tells the curly haired.

“Does it make you want to murder somebody?” Hee-chul yells.

“Kim Hee-chul!” The principal shouts and Kyung-hoon watches Hee-chul leave.

“If he can’t accept my help, then I ain’t wasting his time,” He gives a finger salute to the brunet as an alternative middle finger. “Have fun, Hoonie.”

“Kim Heechul-ssi, you should come back here and get a detention slip,” The principal yells. Hee-chul comes back and grabs one from the drawer without looking at Kyung-hoon in the eye. He’s still the principal's pet so he’s not going to rebel against his teacher. It makes Kyung-hoon scoff.

As soon as the pair hear the door slam, principal Kang sighs and sits back down on his chair. Kyung-hoon’s blood is boiling in anger so he can empathize with the principal in the fact that Kim Hee-chul is an ass.

“First day of school and you’ve already caused trouble,” The principal says after a while.  Kyung-hoon scoffs because: of course, the teacher takes Hee-chul’s side.

“You’re taking his side then?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side; you’re both at fault here.”

Kyung-hoon’s blood is boiling so he exhales big breaths to calm himself down. When he’s on his tenth breath, he starts to calm down.

“Look, all I said is: I don’t need his help, so I don’t know why he got so defensive,” Kyung-hoon shrugs. “He should respect my decision and mind his own business.”

The principal sighs exasperatedly.

“Look, Kyunghoon-ssi, I know you have this whole attitude that makes you think that you strive better when you’re alone, but everyone deserves that companion who will take care of you and be a good friend.”

Kyung-hoon opens his mouth to interrupt him and as if the teacher read his mind, the principal says that he’s not just saying that because Kim Hee-chul is a teacher’s pet.

“I already have good friends,” The brunet says instead.

The principal chuckles.

“Yes, I’m aware of your friends.”

For some reason, Kyung-hoon blushes and his ears go red.  He clears his throat.

“Look, just give the guy a chance; it’s not just you that needs the help.”

When he says that, the principal looks a little bit sad. Kyung-hoon feels curiosity in his veins and hates himself for it. He shouldn’t be nosing around Kim Hee-chul’s business.

“Before you ask me, it’s not my business to say it so I’m zipping my mouth.”

He makes a zipping motion in his lips and Kyung-hoon mumbles about how he wasn’t going to ask anyway.

“Look, I’ll make you a deal. Give the guy a week and if he is that intolerable, I’ll let you pick your next buddy,” The principal arches an eyebrow. “How does that sound?”

_Next buddy? Whoa whoa whoa._

“How long am I being babysat?” Kyung-hoon asks with an arched eyebrow. _Please tell me that this is a week contract and the babysitting gig isn’t gonna last until I graduate._

“Your uncle has asked me to look after you until you graduate,” The principal clears his throat and there is some awkwardness behind it. “He asked me because of your situation.”

Kyung-hoon doesn’t have to take long minutes to figure out what he means. When you’ve been around so many people who walk on eggshells, you pick up on subtle things. In addition, people who give you sympathetic looks and pats are also on the list of people that Kyung-hoon can deduct. They all belong in a group; they should travel together and go to lunches so that Kyung-hoon can have peace at least for a few minutes.

He scoffs.

“Everyone’s going to call names and I’m going to get beaten up or bullied—is that why?”

“Well, t-that as well but also, he’s worried that you’re gonna do something bad or run away again.”

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“If you stick with Hee-chul, it won’t be like a babysitting gig though,” The principal says and smirks. Kyung-hoon is getting tired of hearing about Kim Hee-chul and how perfect he is at everything.

“You really think he’s perfect, huh?” Kyung-hoon asks in an exasperated tone.

“I think all students are perfect—even you, Kyunghoon-ssi,” His principal replies, and his lips change from a smirk to a fake smile. It’s what people from the _group_ is bound to do. It’s the typical fake smile he gets from adults when he answers the question, “how you holding up, kid?”

“You seem to really favor Hee-chul though.”

“I have a soft heart for him and I know his family well—did you know his mum makes the best kimchi-jjigae?”

“I do,” He says, gritting his teeth.

“She makes it better than my wife but don’t tell her I said that,” The principal says with a wink.

Kyung-hoon scoffs. As if he knows the wife for him to spill the secret.

The principal exhales out a breath and softly slams his hands on the table.

“Well, Kyunghoon-ssi, I think it’s time to go to your classes. Hee-chul ran out so he can’t take you to the classroom, so I’ll walk you there.”

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes again. The school is making him feel like he’s back in elementary school. And now the principal is escorting him to the classroom with people staring at him.

He gets up anyway and they head to the classroom together. Luckily, all the students are in their assorted classrooms, so the corridors are empty with no eyes staring at him as he walks. He’s going to get stared at when he walks in which is inevitable because everybody gets stared at when they walk into the classroom late anyway.

The principal hums a song when he walks next to Kyung-hoon and Kyung-hoon snickers when he starts humming. He mixes the hums with the whistles and Kyung-hoon can recognize the song as: I Miss You by Kim Bum-soo.

They eventually reach Class 1A and weirdly, Kyung-hoon is glad that they reach the classroom. _Actually, it’s not weird._  He’s glad that the principal is going away.

“I’ve told the teacher to put you next to Hee-chul; the seat was once accompanied by a student, but he’s moved to a different seat,” The principal leans in and whispers.

Kyung-hoon snorts.

“One week, okay?” The principal adds as he shows one finger.

“How will you know that I’m sticking to the deal because I could ignore him and just be an anti-social person?”

The principal smirks.

“I don’t have to worry because I’m pretty sure you will be tangled in each other’s lives one way or another.”

Kyung-hoon snorts.

“I doubt that.”

 

He pushes the door open; he knows the principal is waving at him like he’s an overprotective parent, but he ignores that and instead focuses on the stares of his fellow classmates. The only smiles he can see is the teacher’s and that doesn’t help him stay calm.

“Ah, Min Kyunghoon-ssi, you’re here,” The teacher points to the empty seat near Hee-chul’s. “Please take a seat.”

He can feel all eyes following him as he sits, and the teacher tells them to stop staring at him. _Yup, it’s definitely an elementary school feeling._

When he sits down, Hee-chul slides his book so that they can both see it.

“Thanks,” He mumbles.

“No problem, Kyunghoon-ah,” The curly haired mumbles back.

Kyung-hoon expected the teacher to fill him in on what’s happening because he was a little late, but she knew Hee-chul was going to share his book, so she just continues speaking.

“We’re doing algebra,” Hee-chul whispers and then taps the page where algebra equations exist. Ah, he should have looked at the book.

“I hate math; why is this the first class when I come back to school?” He mumbles. It wasn’t meant to be for Hee-chul but Hee-chul laughs anyway. When Kyung-hoon doesn’t respond, he disguises it as a cough.

“No, don’t stop yourself from laughing because I hardly make people laugh,” He says and Hee-chul shakes his head.

“I’m not that mean. If you find something funny, you can laugh,” Kyung-hoon shrugs. “It wasn’t that funny though.”

“No, you’re pretty funny, Hoonie,” Hee-chul mumbles.

“Thanks,” The brunet mumbles back.

There is a long silence where the teacher explains equations, expressions and pretty much anything in the basic algebra section. Then the teacher tells them to practice some with your partner and they have to talk again.

“So, I wanted to apologize for what happened at the office,” Hee-chul says suddenly and Kyung-hoon is shocked because: _he’s sorry?_

“I shouldn’t have been offended when you said you didn’t want me to be your buddy or whatever; I’m probably the last person you want to see in this school, isn’t it?”

“No? Why would you think that?” Kyung-hoon asks, knitting his eyebrows in confusion.

Hee-chul barks out a laugh.

“Well, you were pretty vocal about that in the office and I get why you were like that,” Hee-chul sighs. “I wasn’t the best friend to you when you were going through shit.”

Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen because he wasn’t expecting to hear an apology from Hee-chul—especially this early.

He wasn’t expecting an apology at all because he thought Hee-chul wasn’t going to apologize. Kyung-hoon wouldn’t have apologized because he has pride. So, that’s why he thought Hee-chul would do the same.

“I’m sorry for everything,” Hee-chul says and it makes Kyung-hoon’s heart rate quicken. How long had he been waiting to hear him say that? Kyung-hoon thought he would hate him forever because Hee-chul wasn’t going to apologize. But, he’s apologizing and acknowledging why he was a shit friend.

“So, if you don’t want to hang out with me, that’s okay,” Hee-chul shrugs. “I’ll always be here for you if you need me though. You can’t stop me from doing that because I owe you.”

“U-um...”

He doesn’t know what to say. After he’s been such a dick to Hee-chul, the curly haired apologizes and tells him that he’ll be there for him.

Instead of speaking, he scribbles the algebra expressions in his notebook and feels all kinds of awkward. Hee-chul taps his shoulder and he has to look up and face the awkward.

“The things I said in the office were harsh but there are harsher people in this school, Kyunghoon-ah,” Hee-chul sighs. “You’ve always been the type of person that think yourself as someone who is persevering, but I know some things hurt you.”

“I’ve changed,” Kyung-hoon mumbles and memories of Hee-chul’s pained look comes to mind. The face that came after he told Hee-chul that he was hanging out with Ye-jun and the gang instead of going to see a movie with him.

“Sure, but I’m still going to look out for you because I owe you.”

Kyung-hoon wants to protest and say that he doesn’t need Hee-chul to look out for him but the curly haired literally apologized to him, so he can’t be a dick.

He remains speechless until Hee-chul offers his hand to shake.

“What are you doing?”

“Let’s shake hands and be civil.”

Kyung-hoon hesitates—not because he doesn’t want to. It’s because this is too much to take in on a Monday morning. Hee-chul rolls his eyes and Kyung-hoon knows it’s not because of what he thinks it is.

Hee-chul thinks he is hesitant to be civil.

No, being civil is better than arguing and throwing slurs. Kyung-hoon doesn’t want to waste energy on Kim Hee-chul so being civil is best. It’s not being friends but it’s something.

Kyung-hoon shakes his hand and Hee-chul smiles.

It’s been a while since he’s seen Hee-chul smile. Since Hee-chul has big eyes, you would think his eyes doesn’t crinkle when he smiles.

You’d be wrong, my friend.

His eyes crinkle when he smiles, and his big, pretty eyes disappear. Kyung-hoon’s heart rate quickens when Hee-chul gives that crinkly smile.

 

Lunch time comes just like that.

Hee-chul shows Kyung-hoon where the canteen is and takes him to an art room when they’ve both finished getting lunch. Everyone had stared at Kyung-hoon when he walked in and sat down but they then avoided eye contact when Hee-chul glared at everyone in the room. _Is he that intimidating?_

“This is an abandoned art room that no one uses because they built a newer art room that’s less messy and has more space for cupboards. It’s been two years since they’ve abandoned it; it’s now a hangout for me and a couple of kids I’ve managed to befriend.”

Hee-chul pushes the door to the art room and all heads rise. Hee-chul does a little wave and a girl runs up to hug him.

“Chullie!” She exclaims when she runs and Kyung-hoon finds his heart rate quickening again. This time, it’s a different feeling and it feels unsettling and infuriating.

Hee-chul opens his arms and the girl runs to him. Kyung-hoon wishes the girl didn’t kiss Hee-chul and his wish actually comes true. She detaches herself from the hug and Hee-chul ruffles her hair.

_That is very platonic._

Nonetheless, Kyung-hoon clears his throat. They all turn to the brunet and Hee-chul smirks.

“Hani, meet Min Kyung-hoon. Hoonie, meet Hani,” Hee-chul introduces. Kyung-hoon wants to kick the curly boy in the junk area for exposing that horrible nickname.

“Aww, he calls you, that’s so cute!” Hani squeals.

_Okay, maybe not._

For some reason, he wants to taunt this girl by pointing, sticking his tongue out and saying, “Yeah! He has a pet name for me!” But he remains glued to the ground—speechless and bewildered.

He doesn’t move until Hani moves to hug him too; he’s glad she hugged him quickly because if he stayed frozen for a long period of time, that would be bad.

“Nice to meet you,” She says, and that unsettling feeling returns.

He waits for Hee-chul to claim ownership on the nickname but the curly haired stays there with a proud smile because his two closest friends are meeting. At least, Kyung-hoon hopes it’s a close friend.

He should have seen it coming because he let Hani use Kyung-hoon's nickname on Hee-chul. It’s not like he was expecting it; they stopped being friends, met again and now are civil towards one another. Kyung-hoon wasn’t expecting Hee-chul to say “Chullie” is for him only.

“Ditto,” He says and Hani smiles at him. He can’t help but smile back even though he’s got questions about her.

“Hani, we’re going to be inside,” Hee-chul says all of a sudden and then to Kyung-hoon's surprise, he holds the brunet’s hand, interlocking their fingers.

“Okay, have fun!” She squeals and Kyung-hoon scoffs. _Have fun doing what?_

Hee-chul drags him to the “inside” before she can answer.

 

Kyung-hoon didn’t even realize that this room had two rooms built in. The abandoned art room is ginormous with tables and easels and cupboards, but the room built inside the room is small and holds computers with tables and chairs.

Hee-chul goes to a computer as soon as they enter.

“Sit,” He hears Hee-chul say.

There is an empty computer next to Hee-chul so Kyung-hoon decides to log in to that. When he sits down, he realizes that he doesn’t know how to log in.

“It’s your student number and the password is: password,” Hee-chul rolls his eyes. “Every student’s password when they start is password.”

Kyung-hoon nods and presses the power button on the CPU. The computer lights up and starts whirring; it’s one of those old, Windows 7 model so Kyung-hoon knows it’s going to take him ten years to get in. He decides to get his phone out and browse the internet there instead.

When he gets his phone out, Hee-chul lets out a little puff of laughter.

“What?” The brunet asks.

When Kyung-hoon doesn’t reply, he shakes his head and mumbles an apology. He looks back at the computer and Kyung-hoon feels bad. He might still have lingering feelings of anger and sadness but Kyung-hoon is not a dick. They still promised to be civil and Hee-chul is still walking on eggshells around him.

This is the only time walking on eggshells feels crap; the rest of the times, Kyung-hoon has to roll his eyes because the perpetrators always think Kyung-hoon is this kid that is fragile and broken. His parents’ death was two years ago, and he misses them sometimes, but he has learned how to deal with it. The last step of grief is accepting it and Kyung-hoon has accepted it. He doesn’t need people dwelling on it.

“iPhones are a waste of money,” He says and watches in amusement as Hee-chul looks at him with mouth and eyes wide open.

“How dare you?”

“They have no headphone jacks and every time a new one comes out, the old ones start acting up, so you have to buy a new one,” Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. “Imagine a corporation breaking everyone’s phones to drum up business.”

Hee-chul doesn’t have anything to retaliate with so he just gives Kyung-hoon a final glare before turning back to the computer. Kyung-hoon cackles and turns to his own computer to log in.

“Maybe I don’t want to be civil and we should go back to hating each other,” Hee-chul grumbles after about a minute of silence.

“Are you an Apple ambassador?” Kyung-hoon asks with a cackle.

Hee-chul glares again and Kyung-hoon apologizes in midst of laughing his ass off.  He promises to change the subject even though his head still wonders why Hee-chul is so big on iPhones.

The sounds of keyboard keys fill the small art room and Kyung-hoon stops laughing.

“Is Hani your girlfriend?” Kyung-hoon asks suddenly and hates himself after asking it. It’s not his business to ask. They’re civil classmates who don’t need to know each other’s love life. The curiosity came in his head and stayed there like a pest, but he doesn’t need to cure the curiosity.  He’s pretty sure he’s drinking after school with his buds so that can just vanish along with the drink he’ll be chugging.

Hee-chul laughs.

“No, she’s not, Hoonie.”

The curly haired then turns towards Kyung-hoon to smirk and wiggle his eyebrows.

“Why are you curious about that, Hoonie? I thought we weren’t going to be friends?”

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“I’m just curious—also, I wanted to know if I was taking your time away from your girlfriend.”

“Mm-hmm,” Hee-chul nods. “Right, sure, whatever you say.”

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. See, this is why he hates that he asked this question. He could have shut his mouth and drank after school to forget it. And even if they are dating, who gives a fuck? He shouldn’t. It’s not his business. He made it clear to the principal that he didn’t like Hee-chul nosing on his business. _What hypocrisy is this?_

“Because I was thinking that you were jealous and that you liked Hani.”

“No!”

Hee-chul hums again—that stupid skeptical mm-hmm.

_The hypocrisy!_

Hee-chul suggests being civil and now he’s making up stupid theories about why Kyung-hoon asked that question. _It’s not that deep._

“If you want me to hook you up with her then you should have just said so,” Hee-chul shakes his head. “I am your helper in this school, remember.”

Kyung-hoon wants to smack him. Why did he agree to being civil? Bring back the feelings of anger Kyung-hoon has towards Hee-chul. That way, he can be that person he was back in the office.

“You can’t date her though,” Hee-chul pats his shoulder. “She’s gay; your crush is gay.”

“She’s-she’s,” Kyung-hoon pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “I was just curious.”

Hee-chul cackles—throwing his head back as he laughs.  Kyung-hoon sighs again.

“That’s revenge for insulting iPhones,” Hee-chul says—cackling still.

The bell rings and Kyung-hoon stands up to get out of here. He can still hear Hee-chul cackling so he wants to run away. He can because he knows where Class 1A is, so he can run away.

He decides to do it.

He runs and runs and runs; he’s supposed to be thinking about something else but for some reason, the conversations he just had with Hee-chul pops up in his head again. It weirdly makes him smile and he thinks, _wow, I really missed that._

 

He ran away because he wanted to continue this joking around with Hee-chul. He joked back by running.

 

Hee-chul catches up to him though and Kyung-hoon is impressed.

 

Hee-chul was involved in a big car accident when he was ten years ago. It messed up his legs and he can’t do certain things like play sport, but he still manages to catch Kyung-hoon and tap his shoulder.

 

“Hey,” Hee-chul says and he’s using his serious voice. It makes Kyung-hoon want to raise his eyebrows in astonishment because he was just cackling seconds ago.

“Hello?”

“That was too much, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, Hoonie.”

“No, I understood it was a joke?” The brunet answers with an uncertain voice because: did he actually think that Kyung-hoon got offended?

He was trying to be civil, so he insulted Hee-chul and his love of iPhones and Hee-chul teased him for having a “crush” on Hani. Kyung-hoon thought that the little interaction was a perfect start of them being civil towards each other. Even though he “ruined” the civil status by being too nosy about Hee-chul’s relationship, he still thought that interaction was a good one to start with. Also, he missed this so much.

“Sorry, I am known for being psychotic and offending loads of people so I’m always cautious about what I say,” Hee-chul scratches his head. “I shouldn’t be making jokes with someone I’ve not seen in a long time.”

“Hee-chul, it’s fine,” He says and laughs because: Hee-chul is being too serious about this.

“I insulted your love for iPhones, so you can take revenge however you want,” Kyung-hoon laughs. “Not sure why you love them so much, but I insulted them, and I deserve all this teasing about me falling in love with a gay girl.”

He laughs again.

“In fact, I think it helped us be more comfortable and civil,” Kyung-hoon adds.

Somehow, the images of the brunet telling the principal about not giving Hee-chul a chance and refusing to be near him appear in his head. He throws that thought into the box of repressed thoughts that exist in his head.

“Yeah, it did,” Hee-chul nods. “It made me think of the old times.”

This time, several memories of him and Hee-chul appear in his head. He smiles and nods to agree. He’s not afraid of admitting that.

“I don’t know if people who are civil do this though,” Hee-chul laughs. “I think I’m supposed to leave you alone, let you do your thing and help you when you need me to. I even said that to you in the first period and we shook hands on it.”

“I even brought you to the art room where you can go without me for a hangout and where people don’t judge you,” Hee-chul adds.

“We’re too friendly to be civil,” Kyung-hoon scoffs. “We might as well be friends.”

“Right, you’re not supposed to be friends with me because you don’t want to,” Hee-chul sighs. “I started by laughing at how you still got a Samsung and it led to this banter.”

“Good banter,” Kyung-hoon adds.

“Good banter that we think made us more comfortable and civil.”

“But we’re too friendly and this is not what people who are civil should do,” Kyung-hoon confirms.

“Exactly.”

“Maybe we should be friends then,” Kyung-hoon says and smirks when Hee-chul turns to him with a wide gaping mouth.

“You don’t want to be friends with me.”

“You don’t know me that well; you don’t know that I could have changed in the last two years,” Kyung-hoon shrugs. “You said I wouldn’t want to be friends with you but what if I do?”

“Kyunghoon-ah, what are you doing?” Hee-chul asks in a wary tone.

Kyung-hoon sighs.  He really missed having deep chats with Hee-chul and having funny chats with him too. That conversation right there is what he loved about their friendship and Kyung-hoon wants it back.

“Look, when I first came to this school, I didn’t want anything to do with you but that conversation we just had made me think of the old times and made me think that we became comfortable with each other at such a short pace. If it takes us this short time to be civil, then I don’t see any reasons for us not being friends. I came back to school because I was finally comfortable, and I wanted to start a new chapter. I don’t see any reasons as to why I can’t do that to you.”

“Kyunghoon-ah,” Hee-chul drawls.

“We’re too friendly to be civil; we’ve gone past saying hello to each other in the hallway and passing notes about the class,” Kyung-hoon extends his hand. “Let’s start fresh, Chullie.”

“You used the nickname,” Hee-chul mumbles.

“Yes, let’s be friends,” Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes and extends his arm more. “C’mon, before I change my mind.”

Hee-chul rolls his eyes too and accepts the hand.

“Great, we’re back to being friends,” Kyung-hoon shoves his arm so that Hee-chul starts to walk. “Let’s go to class because I’m pretty sure we’re late.”

“Right, right, right.”

They start to walk towards the classroom with identical smiles and Kyung-hoon thinks it’s all nice and lovely now. He never thought he would make up with his best friend but he’s glad he did. He could use a friend that’s not his “thuggish” friends.

“So, about Hani?” Hee-chul suddenly asks and _oh my god!_

“I just want to know if you like her, that’s all!” Hee-chul adds and Kyung-hoon gives him a look of disdain.

“No!”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Hee-chul replies and puts his arms up in surrender. Kyung-hoon notices a huge smile on Hee-chul’s lips and he ends up smiling too.

 

Ye-jun picks him from school in his car. As soon as Kyung-hoon sits down, his friend tries to ruffle his hair.

“Ah, let me put the seatbelt on!” The brunet exclaims and dodges by moving his head.

“Hey baby! How was school!?” Ye-jun asks in a sweet, sickly voice.

 

They don’t call each other baby. _Thank fuck for that._ Kyung-hoon would die if they started doing that. Ye-jun is just satirically being a dad and annoying Kyung-hoon. Actually, he is the dad in the group since he’s the oldest; he was the one who got the ball rolling so he is the dad of the group.

 

Ye-jun met Junki at a music store because he was there to buy a new set of drumsticks. Junki was there to buy a new guitar pick for his bass.

Junki saw Ye-jun drumming the air with the drumsticks he liked at the store. He was testing them out and Junki burst into laughter at the sight of that.

“I think they allow you to practice on the drums in this store,” He told Ye-jun and that’s how they met.

Junki and Woo-hyun used to work together at the movie theater except Woo-hyun quit his job because his ex-girlfriend is one of the assistant managers. Woo-hyun now works at a convenience store and his friends come in to buy drinks and harass him at the register.

When they were both newbies, they both attended their first ever work dinner. Woo-hyun asked Junki if he drank a lot since Junki's alcohol intolerance is shocking. It made Junki laugh and he said yes whilst also inviting him to hang with Ye-jun and Sung-hee.

Oh yeah, Ye-jun met Sung-hee before he met Junki because they work together at an arcade where things like screaming kids and other noise pollution exist.

And of course, Sung-hee saw Kyung-hoon crying his eyes out whilst he was sat on the sidewalk. Sung-hee lives fifteen doors down Kyung-hoon so that’s why he was driving in that neighborhood.

Kyung-hoon didn’t know because Hee-chul was there and he didn’t need anyone else. But he met Sung-hee and found out that there’s another cool kid in his block.

So, Ye-jun meeting Sung-hee and Junki got the ball rolling so he’s officially the father.

“Did you make any friends?” He asks in that dad voice and Kyung-hoon reaches across to pull his sideburns.

“I need to know if my child is doing well in school because I worry,” Ye-jun puts his hand in his heart. “What kind of a father would I be if I didn’t care what my kid did?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kyung-hoon replies and it makes Ye-jun throw his head back and laugh.

“Are you going to do this every day?” Kyung-hoon asks in an annoyed voice because if he is, Kyung-hoon needs to find a new way of transportation.

“Yeah, I am, since you’re so annoyed by it,” Ye-jun answers and Kyung-hoon reaches across to slap his cheek.

“Behave, child,” Ye-jun glares at Kyung-hoon. “And tell me if you made any friends today.”

He basically wants to know if you are leaving us and running away with this new friend,” Junki says—popping his head from behind.

Kyung-hoon jumps in his seat because he wasn’t expecting Junki's head to appear between the two seats.

“You scared me, you bastard,” Kyung-hoon slaps Junki’s head. “Where the fuck were you?”

“I was taking a nap because I’ve got a night shift starting from 7,” Junki snickers. “Did you not see me lying down in the backseat?”

“No! Because Ye-jun was only supposed to pick me up,” Kyung-hoon shakes his head. “What’s the point of you being here? You might as well bring everybody.”

“Everybody agreed on a consensus to wake me up and make me bring the food.”

Ye-jun cackles from his seat and Junki mutters _bastards_ under his breath.

“But that’s not the main point!” Junki slaps Kyung-hoon's back. “The main point is: We want to know if you did meet a new friend.”

Kyung-hoon stays silent because he knows what they’re gonna say if he says yes.

“See, there is someone.”

Junki leans back in his seat and sighs. He sits up again and taps Kyung-hoon's shoulder continuously.

“Who is it?” Junki asks with raised eyebrows. _Isn’t he supposed to be sleeping?_ Why is Kyung-hoon expected to sit down and hear questions?

“I don’t have to say; I can have another life outside of you losers you know.”

“I’m a dad and I want to know everything about my child, you know,” Ye-jun puts a hand on his heart. “What kind of a dad would I be if I didn’t care?”

“Stop it, you idiot!” Kyung-hoon exclaims.

“We’ll stop, we’ll stop!” Junki say and raises his arms in the air for surrender.

“We'll be less pessimistic and less annoying. We’ll be supportive and tell you to bring this friend to our next hangout,” Junki adds with a level-headed voice.

He then hits Ye-jun in his left cheek.

“I mean, this guy should know. He pretty much took me in and I met Sung-hee and got comfortable with bringing Woo-hyun to our next hangout,” Junki laughs. “Our friendship is just people bringing their own people in and us accepting it. I mean, Sung-hee brought in a stray.”

Junki pinches Kyung-hoon's cheek.

“That was you, Kyunghoonie!”

“Wow,” The brunet exclaims in an offended tone and Junki snickers.

“Yeah, you’re the cute puppy that Sung-hee brought in and we adopted.”

Kyung-hoon leans back in his seat and closes his eyes. He keeps exclaiming and Junki snickers in his seat.

“Your friend can come in and he can be _your_ pet,” Junki says and Kyung-hoon says wow again. He closes his eyes and shakes his head continuously cause he’s in disbelief.

Ye-jun shakes Kyung-hoon and he opens his eyes. When he opens them, Ye-jun whispers to Kyung-hoon. They’re at a red light so Ye-jun can lean into Kyung-hoon and abandon the steering wheel.

“Since our branding isn’t that sappy shit, Junki is too afraid to say that: he was worried because today was your first day of school and you’ve got quite a reputation. I don’t think it’s to do with jealousy. I think in a big brother point of view, he wanted to know if there were any nice people that you met that made you forget why you left school in the first place.” 

Junki gags from his seat (he heard it) and Ye-jun turns to hit him in the thigh. Luckily, they’re at a red light so Junki’s thigh gets unlucky.

“Stop pretending, you bastard,” Ye-jun scolds Junki and Kyung-hoon snickers when he hears Junki yelp in pain. Kyung-hoon then hears the noise of a loud slap and knows that it’s Junki who caused the slap noise.

Ye-jun turns to Kyung-hoon instead of reciprocating.

"As the oldest, I will be the bigger man and say that I was worried about you going to school today.”

Whilst Junki rubs his thigh, Kyung-hoon gives Ye-jun a shocked look.

“I think it’s best if you tell us who it is,” Ye-jun eyes Kyung-hoon from head to toe. “Judging by your expressions, this person made your school day easier and you had no problems.”

“Did he?” Kyung-hoon asks in a curious tone.

“Like Junki said earlier, we'll be supportive, and we’ll even allow you to bring this guy for our next hangout. Junki can’t say that he was worried, so he acts all jealous and says that you’re leaving us.”

“That’s because he is!” Junki says from his seat.

“Ya! Stop it already. Kyung-hoon found a good friend and he had a good day of school. You can stop getting your pig patterned panties in a twist!”

“Pig patterned panties?” Kyung-hoon asks with an arched eyebrow.

“His lucky ones,” Ye-jun whispers to Kyung-hoon.

“Ah! The lucky underwear! The one that he wears when he needs luck in his life. The one that got him l- “

Junki reaches across the seat to clamp Kyung-hoon's mouth shut. Ye-jun cackles in his seat and Junki slaps him again.

“No distracting the driver!” Ye-jun yells and Junki hits him again.

They get in a slap fight where Junki slaps Ye-jun's cheek and Ye-jun uses one hand to slap Junki without keeping his eyes off the road. Kyung-hoon was going to groan and complain that it’s too loud but suddenly, his phone pings.

_Hi, I don’t know if this is still your number. It’s Hee-chul by the way. If you still have me saved, then you’ll know who I am. If you deleted me, it’s fine. I understand. Since we’re friends again, I thought I should let you know that this is my number. If you need anything, just let me know._

Kyung-hoon smiles at the message and starts to type the contact name for Hee-chul on his phone. In midst of play-fighting, Junki notices Kyung-hoon typing Chullie into his phone.

“Wait a minute, hyung,” Junki leans forward to have a closer look at the phone. “Who is Chullie?”

Kyung-hoon hides his phone in his phone blazer and Junki is even more suspicious. He wrestles Kyung-hoon to try to get the phone off him and Kyung-hoon does his best to defend his phone and not have it stolen. They wrestle for so long that Junki nearly climbs on Kyung-hoon's lap. Ye-jun pushes him back to his seat and Junki wrestles the brunet again.

“Is that your new friend?” Junki yells as he wrestles Kyung-hoon. The brunet gets saved by the bell—or more like, saved by the car pulling to a stop.

“We’re here!” Ye-jun yells and Kyung-hoon looks out the window and sees the familiar Chinese restaurant they always go to.

“You know you could have ordered,” Kyung-hoon shakes his head. “You don’t have the courage to curse at them and tell them to order it by phone. You’re the second oldest so you have the power to do that.”

“Woo-hyun is the second oldest,” Junki says and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“They’re the same age so it doesn’t count,” Kyung-hoon says—pointing at Ye-jun.

“Well, I was going to pick you up, so it became more convenient for Junki to get food,” Ye-jun rolls his eyes. “Plus, you all have the vendetta to waste my gas money and make me your cab driver.”

“Why would you think that?” The two passengers say at the same time—blinking their eyes and pouting to make themselves cute and innocent. It’s the iconic puppy dog eyes and Ye-jun gags at the sight of it.

He then turns to Junki and shoves him so that he gets out of the car. Junki grabs Kyung-hoon's collar to make him come with but Kyung-hoon resists.

“No, they said you have to get it and only you,” Kyung-hoon says with a baby voice.

“Oh, pish posh! Stop talking bullshit,” Junki gets out of the car. “You know what, fuck you two! I'll get it myself!”

He leaves the car and slams the door really loudly—causing the men at the front to snicker like five-year olds.

After that, there is a silence and Kyung-hoon starts typing a response to Hee-chul's text.

“Is that your new friend?” Ye-jun asks and Kyung-hoon instantly hides his phone in his blazer like a reflex.

“I’m not like Junki; I’m the coolest guy in the team, remember,” Ye-jun answers with a grin and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“Seriously, Kyunghoon-ah, you can tell me everything,” Ye-jun says with a gentle pat him on the back.

“You will judge me if I tell you who it is,” Kyung-hoon says and Ye-jun arches his eyebrow.

“What makes you say that?”

“Trust me hyung, you will,” Kyung-hoon pockets his phone. “So, let’s just say I have a new friend whom I will spend time with sometimes and move on.”

Ye-jun rolls his eyes.

“I’m not gonna bite.”

Kyung-hoon hesitates for a moment and stays silent. His eyes flicker to Ye-jun’s eyes as if he’s asking his hyung if it is really okay for one last time. Ye-jun gives him a pointed look as if he’s telling Kyung-hoon to stop being ridiculous and stop doubting their trust and friendship.

“Do you know Kim Hee-chul?” The brunet asks in a hesitant voice.

Ye-jun’s eyes widen and Kyung-hoon bites his lower lip in guilt.

“No,” Ye-jun drawls.

“You remember him then?” Kyung-hoon asks and Ye-jun scoffs.

"Are you insane!?" Ye-jun yells, throwing his hands up. He is very frustrated and Kyung-hoon feels small in the seat.

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you or others," Kyung-hoon whines.

"So, you're telling me this asshole is now your friend and he helped you in school today?"

“He apologized about everything and we were only going to be acquaintances, but one thing led to another and we were back to our old selves,” Kyung-hoon shrugs. “I suggested we be friends because I missed our friendship and it didn’t take us long to go back to our old selves.”

“Apologizing doesn’t mean that thing is fixed!” Ye-jun yells.

“You said you’d be supportive,” Kyung-hoon pouts. “You said I could invite my friend next time.”

“I didn’t know it was going to be a traitor," Ye-jun grits.

 

The car door opens and Junki walks in with a bag and a big smile.

“I got the stuff,” He says—smile stretching to a grin.

Kyung-hoon and Ye-jun stay silent; Ye-jun is pinching the bridge of his nose and Kyung-hoon has his arms crossed when Junki looks at them both. Usually, there’d be a comment about the food being very fast; usually there’d be excited boys in the car that can’t wait to eat the food. But now the car is silent, and you can cut the tension with a knife.

“Was I really gone for long? What the fuck happened?”

“Kyung-hoon is friends with a traitor,” Ye-jun answers and he almost sounds sulky like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Ah, you found out who this 'Chullie' is?” Junki asks with a big grin—excited that his questions are being answered and he doesn’t have to wrestle Kyung-hoon anymore.

“I told him,” Kyung-hoon mumbles (almost too close to it being indecipherable) but Junki understands it anyway.

“Okay! Tell me then.”

“Kim Hee-chul,” Kyung-hoon mumbles again.

There is silence in the car and Kyung-hoon wants to look at Junki for his reactions, but he doesn’t and instead, twiddles his thumbs.

“Cool,” Junki says after about five seconds—surprising everybody.

“You’re not mad?” Kyung-hoon tentatively asks and Ye-jun feels bad a little bit. He doesn’t let his thoughts lean into that and tries to be angry still.

“Not really,” Junki answers with a shrug and munches on a prawn chip.

“But-but, he betrayed Kyung-hoon by not coming to Kyung-hoon’s aid when his parents were fighting. He should have rescued him from that toxic house or tried to help settle the fight or taken Kyung-hoon into his own house,” Ye-jun adds—moving his hands a lot as he speaks. Ye-jun only does that when he’s mad or passionate so Kyung-hoon knows he’s still angry.

“Okay, that was a dick move—I admit that—but Kyung-hoon seems to have forgotten about it and they seem to have made up, so everything is okay,” Junki replies and Kyung-hoon finds himself very bewildered at Junki’s coolness.

Ye-jun is bewildered too and he raises his eyebrows in bewilderment.

“This is Kyung-hoon's problem, so we shouldn’t be meddling or worrying for him. If he wants to make up, then let him do it,” Junki adds to calm Ye-jun down because Junki knows about Ye-jun and how hard it is to calm him down. 

“But what if this asshole betrays Kyung-hoon again?” Ye-jun asks in a quite aggressive manner. He even points to Junki like he’s really arguing and sticking to his side. They shouldn’t even be arguing about it, to be honest.

“I’ll warn him not to hurt Kyung-hoon if you are that desperate; I don’t think Kyung-hoon needs it though because he will kill Kim Hee-chul himself. He is strong, and you should dwell on that instead of treating him like a child,” Junki scoffs. “You know you’re not our real dad, right?”

Ye-jun flips him off and Junki reciprocates. Kyung-hoon wants to go home and sink in his bed.

“Besides, Hee-chul is a good kid and a feisty one so I think he will protect Kyung-hoon instead of hurting him,” Junki munches on a prawn chip. “I’m sure he had good reasons on why he didn’t rescue Kyung-hoon that time.”

Ye-jun widens his eyes; his eyes tell the other boys that he’s really offended by what Junki said. It’s like Junki killed his puppy in front of him.

“Why are you sticking up for that kid?” Ye-jun asks with that horrified face.

Kyung-hoon doesn’t register the fact that Junki is sticking up to Hee-chul. All he can think about is the fact that Junki knows Hee-chul is a good kid. As soon as he heard it, he is only focused on that.

“Wait, how do you know him?” Kyung-hoon asks—turning to Junki.

“I work with him,” Junki says in a nonchalant manner.  As expected from the most chill friend Kyung-hoon has. They each have a role and Kyung-hoon is slowly starting to understand Junki’s role.

 

Hee-chul works at the movie theater. Hee-chul sells popcorn and drinks to a bunch of kids. Hee-chul works with Junki.

Kyung-hoon can't wrap his head around Hee-chul working.

 

“Yeah, he replaced Woo-hyun's job and I’m glad he did because he’s better than him.”

Ye-jun arches an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Woo-hyunnie is our friend but since Hee-chul is handsome, he gets a lot of girls to come to the movie theater and the girls talk to me too.”

Junki looks at Ye-jun and spits in disgust.

“Have any of you been good wing-men?”

Ye-jun rolls his eyes.

“Thought so.”

“I bet that Kim Hee-chul goes on a lot of dates,” Ye-jun says in a snide manner.

“Nah, he rejects all of them when they ask him on a date.”

This time, Kyung-hoon raises his eyebrow.

“I think he likes someone,” Junki says in his nonchalant manner and Ye-jun scoffs next to him.

For some reason, that statement gets Kyung-hoon to turn around and ask Junki who it is. That makes Junki smirk and Kyung-hoon turns around again to not cause suspicions.  _Not that there’s any suspicions._  Although, he turned around pretty fast when that was mentioned, and he still doesn’t know why he did that. _But there are no suspicions!_

“He got suspended once and got detention too. I asked him why he would cause trouble since he’s a top-grade student and he said that they were pissing him off.”

“He's one of those people that doesn’t get offended when he gets insulted so that made me think someone he likes got insulted,” Junki adds which makes Kyung-hoon a lot more curious.

“I mean, they might have insulted his mom; how can you be sure he likes someone?” Kyung-hoon asks because Hee-chul is a mamma's boy.

“Okay, they might have, but him rejecting every single person that asks him on a date definitely tells me that he likes someone,” Junki replies and Kyung-hoon is surprised at how rational this sounds.

Ye-jun scoffs.

“Are you going to be his friend as well?”

Junki slaps Ye-jun’s arm.

“Because of Kim Hee-chul, we got to have Kyunghoon-ah,” Junki tells him and that gets Ye-jun to shut up and start the car.

“Thought so,” Junki mutters with a smirk.

Junki turns to Kyung-hoon and tells him to bring Kim Hee-chul to the next hangout. Ye-jun doesn’t say anything so Kyung-hoon thinks that he’s okay with it. Either that or he’s being quiet and will tell them his real opinion later on when Hee-chul _does_ come to their hangout. Because of that, Kyung-hoon doesn’t want to bring Hee-chul to the next hangout.

 

He _does_ come up with lots of questions about the curly haired and they circle in his head. The one that’s bothering him the most and the one that he’s itching to find out is the one that he can’t ask Hee-chul nonchalantly and that’s annoying.

_Who do you like?_

 

Their first friend date doesn’t turn out to be a hangout where they see each other. Hee-chul adds him on PUBG because Kyung-hoon uses his Facebook to log in and Hee-chul is a Facebook friend.

 

To be honest, he didn’t know that he still had Hee-chul as a friend since he hardly uses it. It seems like people use Facebook to rant or complain about tiny, first world problems and he can’t stand seeing it. Even his closest friends are sometimes writing melancholic posts about schools or work. It makes him get a migraine.

 

So, Hee-chul is now his friend in Player-unknown's Battle grounds and he can now check Hee-chul's stats.

So that’s what he does.

 

Hee-chul is pretty good at the game and have been at Top 10 a couple of times as a solo player. When he plays as a duo or a quartet, he ends up being in the Top 50.

 

_Chullie: Want to play as a duo?_

Kyung-hoon picks up the phone when it pings, and he scoffs at the message. His stats are so bad when he’s in a team. He seems like he’s a liability or a black hole. Why would they play as a duo?

Kyung-hoon texts back reminding the curly haired that his stats are bad when he’s in a team. _Hey! Sometimes people forget their stats or don’t check the stats because they suck at battle royale games._

_Chullie: You’ve been stalking me? It’s been a week since we’ve become friends and you’re already looking at my scores._

_Kyung-hoon: Well, you did add me so it’s not my fault that you added me and allowed me to look at your scores._

_Chullie: You’re the one to talk! Top 30 as a solo!? What is that!?_

 

So, he’s been looking at Kyung-hoon's scores. Kyung-hoon blushes because he forgot his stats. 

He’s the type that doesn’t check because of pride and embarrassment. And here he was, picking Hee-chul as the one who doesn’t check the stats. He’s disgusted by the hypocrisy.

 

_Kyung-hoon: We both suck. What makes you think we’ll get a chicken dinner?_

PUBG winners get “winner winner chicken dinner” in their screen when they win and Kyung-hoon has only gotten that once. It was a game against bots because PUBG cares about noobs and wants to give them a self-esteem boost.

_Chullie: Well, we’re pretty invincible. Remember all the crimes we’ve solved as tree-house detectives? The ahjumma would never have found her cat if it wasn’t for us._

The text makes him snicker and puts a long-lasting smile on his face. Even though he’s laughing, he feels hurt inside because back then, things were easier and Kyung-hoon didn’t have to go two years without his best friend. However, he still smiles because—despite all that—its a fun memory he has with Hee-chul.

_Kyung-hoon: I don’t think us playing pretend in my tree-house will help us with PUBG._

_Chullie: You never know. I’ve sent you an invite to join the team. You in?_

Kyung-hoon accepts and his monitor shows their characters standing next to each other. Kyung-hoon's character is naked because he still hasn’t gotten to the shops to dress his character. Hee-chul is wearing camo from head to toe and Kyung-hoon wants to own it.

_Chullie: You’re naked! Is that why you’re getting killed easier? No bullet proof attires?_

_Kyung-hoon: Shut up._

Hee-chul sends him laughing emojis and then apologizes because Kyung-hoon is on the Samsung which is crap in Hee-chul's eyes. Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes and texts him to pick a map.

_Chullie: Let’s stick to the default map. Start us off._

Kyung-hoon presses ready and waits for Hee-chul to start the game—since he’s the team leader after all. The game loads and Kyung-hoon finds himself face to face with another player whilst the countdown starts.

He can see Hee-chul 's number to his right so that’s where he runs to; the guy in the front is punching him so going to your partner is better even though this little introduction has nothing to do with the game. It’s not like he’s going to die from these punches before the game starts and it’s not like being near your partner is beneficial. It’s just an introduction.

Being near Hee-chul calms him.

The countdown stops, and the two players are now in a plane.

“You want to follow me?” Hee-chul asks—speaking loud into the microphone suddenly. Kyung-hoon flinches at the sound.

“Yeah, where we going?” He says into his own microphone.

“Pochinski doesn’t get a lot of players at first so let’s go there,” Hee-chul replies.

The plane goes past Pochinski, so the two players jump. It’s better to invite your teammates to jump with you so that you’re not separated so Kyung-hoon had accepted Hee-chul’s invite of jumping together. So, wherever Hee-chul goes, Kyung-hoon is expected to follow.

That’s why he tells Hee-chul to land them near houses, so he can scout.

“I know what I’m doing, you idiot,” Hee-chul replies. Hearing that, Kyung-hoon is pretty sure Hee-chul is giving him the middle finger.

They land near houses and Kyung-hoon runs to one house and Hee-chul goes to another. Kyung-hoon manages to find clothes and a gun. It’s not the best gun but it will do.

“Any good guns that I can pick up?” He asks Hee-chul.

“Yeah, there’s one here that’s pretty good; I already have one just in case, so I’ll go to other houses to scout.”

Kyung-hoon hums in response.

They go to every house near the radius—taking turns to explore every house. They’re supposed to let each other know if something is in a house but scouting takes time and it’s better to kill time by scouting rather than running and finding people that will shoot them.

Suddenly, the voice of the game lets Kyung-hoon know that his teammate got supplies.

“There’s a pretty good scope here, Kyunghoon-ah,” Hee-chul's voice comes through the mic.

_Okay._

He runs towards Hee-chul—following his number. Suddenly the sounds of gunshots stop him from running.

"Fuck," Hee-chul curses on the mic. Kyung-hoon was supposed to do that but Hee-chul beat him to it. Instead, he sprints towards the opponent and shoots when he notices their presence.

The opponent is knocked out and Kyung-hoon notices Hee-chul next to him and sighs in relief. Hee-chul shoots the opponent’s partner that’s coming closer to revive the knocked-out opponent.

Kyung-hoon concentrates on the knocked-out opponent and Hee-chul stops the other guy from reviving his teammate. Eventually, the two players die, and the two best friends cheer loudly.

"We shattered each other's eardrums," Hee-chul says with a laugh.

“That was fucking close though; why did they have to come when I was going to get the scope?”

“Go get your scope, Hoonie,” Hee-chul replies with a laugh.

“Not yet, I still need to raid the crate that the guy left.”

“Oh yeah, that.”

They find guns, first aid kits, bandages and some energy drinks in both crates. Hee-chul raids the guy he killed and Kyung-hoon raids his.

 

The two best friends survive for a very long time. It’s surprising because they both have bad stats in terms of PUBG.

There’s five people left—three excluding them. The two best friends are currently sat in a house—hiding from their opponents or waiting for them. The pair want the three people to battle it out and have one remaining, so they can kill the player easier.

It’s so quiet and Kyung-hoon can hear Hee-chul whistling SG Wannabe in his ear.

“We have a chance, Chullie,” Kyung-hoon says—interrupting his whistling.

Hee-chul wants to say something but suddenly Kyung-hoon sees red on the map which means someone is here.

Kyung-hoon looks out through the scope and Hee-chul goes out the door with this gun pointed—ready to strike. In midst of playing, Hee-chul had picked up a good scope so he can see the opponent clearly.

“Only one person is here,” Hee-chul says and Kyung-hoon can’t answer because the guy comes closer and he starts shooting. Looks like the opponent doesn’t have a scope so he could only see the pair when he got close.

Hee-chul retaliates and Kyung-hoon runs to defend him. They both shoot and since there’s only one, he can’t defend himself. Since Hee-chul went first, he is at the front and Kyung-hoon is shooting from the side.

Suddenly the sounds of gunshots stop.

 

**WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER**

 

The pair cheer loudly again and Hee-chul starts singing a girl group song Kyung-hoon does not know the name of. Kyung-hoon can’t help dancing along to the song even though Hee-chul can’t see.

“See! I knew we’d make a good pair! Hee-chul says and Kyung-hoon can’t help but sing a song in celebration.

Hee-chul laughs and joins in. They’re just two idiots singing BTS's DOPE in their respective homes. Kyung-hoon is so glad that his uncle is not home because if he walked into the room, he’d wonder if he is raising a lunatic. Especially since he’s dancing in one spot like an idiot (The headphones don’t allow big movements around his room.)

They exit the arena and the mic disappears, so they can’t talk. Kyung-hoon decides to call him.

“You finally got a win in your stats,” Hee-chul says with a laugh when he picks up and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes even though Hee-chul can’t see.

“You’re one to talk,” He retaliates and Hee-chul cackles loudly in his ear.

“Yeah, we both did good, you’re right.”

“It happened exactly like you wanted it to happen.”

“That guy probably thought he would kill us one by one and win but we were a duo,” Hee-chul cheers loudly. “We won, we won.”

_How cute._

“We finally got a chicken dinner,” Kyung-hoon replies with a big laugh.

“We should get actual chicken—us two hanging out.”

“Now!?”

“No, tomorrow. I have work today and in about an hour, I’m going grocery shopping with my mom.”

_He really is a mama boy._

“Tomorrow then,” Kyung-hoon can’t help but crack a smile. “What time?”

“Around 1 in the afternoon, I’ll text you when I’m about to leave.”

Kyung-hoon says “okay” in a small voice.

“I live somewhere else now, so it takes me twenty minutes to get there,” Hee-chul says and it makes Kyung-hoon sad; he thinks about the times he and Hee-chul had fun as neighbors.

“Alright, I gotta go, this was fun, Hoonie,” Hee-chul says and Kyung-hoon smiles again—completely forgetting the sad memories.

"I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kyung-hoon says and bites his lip to stop himself from smiling.

“Tomorrow,” Hee-chul confirms.

They hang up and Kyung-hoon throws his phone in the bed. It lands on his soft duvet and he joins the phone by jumping on the said duvet.

He really can’t stop smiling and he wonders if winning PUBG is really that exciting.

 

Hee-chul comes in at 13:30 and he really does take twenty minutes to get there. Kyung-hoon had received the text at 13:10 and he had spent the time pacing around the room being so nervous. It’s their first time hanging out since they became friends again so Kyung-hoon is a little nervous.

His uncle opens the door and Kyung-hoon can clearly hear the conversations from the top of the staircase.

“Heechul-ah,” His uncle says in a shocked tone.

“Hi, uncle Jang-hoon.”

“You’re here,” The uncle adds, and he’s still bewildered that Hee-chul is standing there. Like he’s dreaming or like he’s looking at an idol singer.

_Hee-chul would be a good idol singer._

“It’s been a while, uncle Jang-hoon,” His friend replies as he sways back and forth, feeling awkward.

“Chuseok, two years ago.”

 

Before Hee-chul and Kyung-hoon stopped being friends, Hee-chul’s parents and Kyung-hoon’s parents used to spend the holidays together. It would be his parents, Hee-chul’s parents, his grandparents and his uncle. Hee-chul’s grandparents passed away when Hee-chul was two so that is why, he doesn’t really go to his grandparents and instead, spends his time with Kyung-hoon. To be honest, Kyung-hoon's grandparents prefer Hee-chul over him so they’ll be happy when they see Hee-chul around the dinner table—if Hee-chul decides to come again with his parents.

 

“Yeah,” The curly guy exhales.

“You’re friends with my nephew again?”

Hee-chul nods and suddenly, his friend is being pulled into a bone-crushing hug. Kyung-hoon decides now is a good time to step in so he comes in, complaining and whining about the fact that his uncle is embarrassing him.

“Oh, Kyunghoon-ah, you made a good choice to give this guy another chance,” His uncle sways Hee-chul from left to right. “Kim Hee-chul, I’ve missed you so much.”

_So, it’s not just my grandparents._

“Aish! Just let the poor guy go, you’re crushing him with your big boned arms!” Kyung-hoon exclaims as he tries to untangle Hee-chul from his uncle's embrace.

“Can’t I hug him for like an hour because I’ve missed his hugs?” His uncle whines and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. _God, is this guy a child? Who is the adult in the family here?_

“I’m hungry and I was promised chicken,” Kyung-hoon answers with a glare which clearly means: can you let him go please?

“You’re going out for chicken!?” His uncle asks—letting Hee-chul go without realizing he let him go.

_Finally._

“Yeah, because we won a game so we’re celebrating,” Kyung-hoon raises his eyebrows. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

 

His uncle works as a basketball coach to elementary and middle schoolers. It’s the weekend but his uncle still goes to school sometimes to coach the basketball team.

 

Kyung-hoon is so glad that his uncle worked somewhere else before he became Kyung-hoon's guardian. If he was Kyung-hoon's PE teacher when he was a little boy, oh boy, he would get embarrassed every single week. Being Kyung-hoon's guardian is what got his uncle to come to Seoul. His mom's family is originally from Hoengseong and that’s where his uncle used to work. Actually, no, his uncle lived in Hoengseong but worked in Wonju as a PE teacher.

 

“It’s my day off,” His uncle answers and then he gives Hee-chul a big smile again.

Kyung-hoon notices and rolls his eyes. He walks over to Hee-chul and interlocks their fingers so that Hee-chul is not hugging his uncle again. He tugs Hee-chul's hand and Hee-chul follows him to the front door.

“Alright, alright, I get the hint—geez, no need to be so crabby,” His uncle sighs. “I’m just happy Hee-chul's your friend again since you have such well-mannered friends.”

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“That Kim Ye-jun is quite a character,” His uncle says and shakes his head in disappointment.

“Okay! Bye!” Kyung-hoon yells and tugs Hee-chul’s hand to take him outside. He knows his uncle is whining and sighing about not getting enough Kim Hee-chul time or whatever, but he doesn’t want to listen to it, so he runs and tugs Hee-chul’s hand so that he’s running too.

“We need to be quick before he takes you and keeps you in the basement,” He explains since Hee-chul will ask why they are running.

Hee-chul chuckles.

“That’s a bit far-fetched,” He replies.

“Oh, you’d be surprised.”

Hee-chul laughs again and they run as fast as they can to the chicken restaurant Hee-chul likes. Or at least hopes he likes still. His opinions could change in two years.

 

When they get there, they are huffing and puffing and so out of breath. Kyung-hoon is sure he’ll throw up and his lungs will be on the sidewalk where his vomit is supposed to be. His heart is racing and Kyung-hoon is sure his heart will jump out of his chest. He can’t run again. No way. Unless he wants to lose all his body parts, he can’t.

He tells that to Hee-chul and Hee-chul snorts.

Suddenly, Hee-chul's head and eyes focus on the roof where the name of the restaurant is written. Kyung-hoon follows his eyes and then looks at Hee-chul for his reaction.

_Did I get it right? What’s happening? Why is he looking there?_

“You remembered,” Hee-chul whispers. The tone of his voice tells Kyung-hoon that Hee-chul is really touched by this. It makes him smile.

He shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal.

“You’re the best, Hoonie,” He tells Kyung-hoon with a smile that contains crinkly eyes. Kyung-hoon's heart starts pumping again.

They go inside and order braised chicken to eat and share between the two. The good thing about the restaurant is the service is really good so their chicken doesn’t take that long to come out.

When the ahjumma serves the chicken and tells Hee-chul to eat it well, Kyung-hoon thinks about how everyone loves Hee-chul and how good of a person he is. Sure, he did that thing, but everyone does crappy things. Like his uncle said, he was right to make nice with Hee-chul again.

_Oh god, my uncle._

“Winner winner chicken dinner,” Hee-chul says excitedly—rubbing his hands and licking his lips.

Kyung-hoon sighs dejectedly.

“Why? Do you not think it looks good? I told you to order whatever you wanted to eat.”

He leans to the side to find a staff member.

Kyung-hoon tugs him back to his seat.

“I’m just thinking about my uncle and your interaction with him,” Kyung-hoon sighs. “God, he’s an embarrassing ahjussi.”

Hee-chul cackles.

“It’s okay, he’s cute.”

The curly haired takes one chicken piece and puts him in his mouth. When it’s in, he does a little dance cause it’s so delicious. Kyung-hoon wonders if the reason why everyone loves Kim Hee-chul is because he’s cute. Then he takes that thought and shoves it deep in a box where all his forbidden thoughts are existing.

“God, my family loves you, don’t they? No, everyone loves you. That ahjumma. The principal.”

“What the fuck are you talking about when we’re enjoying good chicken?” Hee-chul waggles his chopsticks towards Kyung-hoon. “Stop talking crap and eat the chicken.”

Kyung-hoon puts one piece of chicken in his mouth. He keeps his eyes on Hee-chul at all times since Hee-chul is staring intensely at him. He chews when it’s in his mouth and his eyes widen because the chicken is surprisingly delicious. He wasn’t expecting it to be that good; he was expecting mediocre chicken.

“There you go, it’s good isn’t it?” Hee-chul asks and Kyung-hoon nods.

“Yeah, you deserved it because you got your first win in PUBG,” Hee-chul adds with a wide toothed grin.

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes and Hee-chul laughs at the reaction. Hee-chul tells the brunet that he’s just joking, and he knows he’s being hypocritical. That starts the ball rolling and Kyung-hoon finds himself in a bantering conversation with Hee-chul as they enjoy some chicken. By the end of it, Kyung-hoon is laughing loudly and having fun. His nerves have completely vanished. _What nerves? Who?_

 

“Ugh, I ate so much,” Hee-chul says as he lays down in his seat and pats his stomach.

Kyung-hoon nods as he slowly sips his glass of sprite. He can’t even finish his drink since he’s so full.

“This was fun though—eating good chicken as our first hangout,” Hee-chul's lips curve into a wide smile. “Can’t believe you remembered how much I liked this place.”

“I was worried because I thought you changed your opinions on your favorite place.”

Hee-chul shakes his head.

“Nah, when I like something, I will keep on liking it and never change.”

As soon as he finishes his sentence, his eyes flicker to Kyung-hoon’s eyes. Kyung-hoon wonders why the curly brunet is looking at him like that when suddenly the brunet burps.

Kyung-hoon scrunches his face in disgust.

“It’s okay, all these people know me,” Hee-chul gestures to the entire restaurant with his hand. “All these people love me—disgusting burps and all.”

“Even the customers?” Kyung-hoon asks with a snicker.

“Sure. I mean, you said it yourself. Everyone loves me.”

“I shouldn’t have said it,” Kyung-hoon mumbles and Hee-chul hears it anyway. He chuckles at Kyung-hoon's response.

“Okay, I’ll stop being a psycho,” Hee-chul gets up from his comfortable laid position. “Call the ahjumma and I’ll pay.”

Kyung-hoon's eyes widen.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you’re paying?”

“That’s what I said?” Hee-chul asks in a confused voice.

“No, no, no, I’m paying!”

Kyung-hoon takes out his wallet and Hee-chul grabs hold of his hand.

“Hoonie, let your dongsaeng pay. You’re a hyung so you used to pay all the time but let me pay this time,” Hee-chul takes his wallet out. “I mean, I invited you here, didn’t I?”

 

Kyung-hoon forgot that he was two years older than Hee-chul. When they became friends the first time, they decided to drop the honorifics and just speak casually. _Why did he bring that up?_

 

“Hyung, let me pay,” Hee-chul says with a giggle. He’s having fun with this. _That bastard._

Kyung-hoon groans.

“Let me pay or I’ll keep calling you hyung,” He adds so Kyung-hoon has to give up on the argument. He calls the ahjumma as promised and Hee-chul tells her that they’re ready to pay.

“Did you eat well, Heechul-ah?” The ahjumma asks—squeezing Hee-chul’s cheeks with her hands.

“Yes, auntie, I did,” He tells her.

She squeals in happiness and gives Hee-chul a kiss on the forehead. She praises him for eating well and tells him that he should eat well since he’s a skinny guy. Hee-chul tells her that he’s gaining weight due to eating junk food a lot. The movie theater is where the junk food restaurants are and that’s why Hee-chul gets to eat franchise foods like McDonald’s and KFC.

The ahjumma slaps him on the cheek and tells him he’s being ridiculous. Kyung-hoon can’t help but laugh.

Then Kyung-hoon watches them whisper to each other. His nosy self wants to butt in and ask what they’re talking about, but he doesn’t.

He’s not a nosy little freak.

Suddenly, Hee-chul goes red and he shoves the ahjumma's shoulder. The ahjumma lets out a big, booming laugh and Hee-chul shoves her towards the register.

“Alright, alright, I’ll shut up.”

He pays for the chicken and when they leave, the ahjumma waves at them with a big smile, telling them to come again. Hee-chul rolls his eyes and grabs hold of Kyung-hoon's hand to take him away from the ahjumma’s sight.

“Are we running again?” Kyung-hoon asks with a laugh.

“God, no. Not after eating,” Hee-chul answers with a horrified face.

Kyung-hoon laughs. _I guess that makes sense._

“Just wanted to be away from that ahjumma.”

“What did you talk about anyway?”

He had to ask. His curiosity expanded when Hee-chul took him away from the ahjumma. If it’s that extreme that Hee-chul turned red and took Kyung-hoon to a place where they couldn’t see her, Kyung-hoon has to know what is.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my stupid problem that I’ll deal with,” Hee-chul answers.

Hee-chul looks like he doesn’t want to talk about it so Kyung-hoon lets it go. He’s not going to be a nosy guy and pry on Hee-chul's life. That could ruin their newly made friendship. He’ll shut up and if Hee-chul wants to talk about it, he’ll talk about it.

They make their way towards home. They don’t talk because Hee-chul looks like he’s still embarrassed about what the ahjumma told him, so the walk back is silent.

Kyung-hoon decides to break the ice by humming Sweet Dream. It’s his favorite song and whenever he hums or sings it, he’s sad because the duo only released two songs and disbanded. They are such good singers. Why did they disband?

Kyung-hoon wants Universe Cowards to come back with a new song.

 

Kyung-hoon starts singing the first verse of Sweet Dream and Hee-chul joins him in the second verse. Kyung-hoon can’t stop looking at Hee-chul when he sings because that dude nails the second verse. He feels beaten when they sing the chorus together because Hee-chul sings so good.

“You should be a singer,” He tells Hee-chul.

Hee-chul groans.

“Don’t start.”

Kyung-hoon arches his eyebrows in confusion.

“Remember when I dyed my hair silver and you told me I should be an idol singer and debut?” Hee-chul rolls his eyes. “You kept telling me to audition when SM were holding auditions.”

“You should! You’re a good singer,” He bumps their shoulders together. “Don’t you want to?”

“You know how much hardships idol singers go through, Hoonie. I wouldn’t be able to handle that.”

“You’re strong though. Junki told me that you got detention and suspension for beating people up.”

Hee-chul’s eyes widen.

“That bastard, I’m going to kill him,” Hee-chul mutters under his breath.

“How did they piss you off?” Kyung-hoon asks and Hee-chul scoffs.

“Wow, Hoonie, you have such an astounding personality. 4D personality. The guy that says anything and everything. Wow.”

“I’m just passing time by talking; I don’t like awkward silences,” Kyung-hoon shrugs his shoulders. “Also, it’d be good to talk about something else and keep your mind off what the ahjumma said.”

Hee-chul groans.

“If you don’t like that topic, then I’ll talk about how I was nervous to go hang out with you today.”

“Really? Why?” Hee-chul asks. His voice has turned softer and more caring. Kyung-hoon takes that as a win.

“It’s been a long time since we hung out, so I was anxious about what was going to happen and if anything bad was going to happen—you know, it being my fault.”

Hee-chul laughs.

“You could never make things bad, Hoonie,” Hee-chul reaches across to touch his lip ring. “You might look tough and think you’re a bad boy but deep down, you’re still that clumsy boy that talks too much.”

Kyung-hoon laughs.

“I didn’t use to be like that; you can blame my delinquent friends. They talk so much and they’re so loud and curse a lot.”

Hee-chul laughs.

“I know, I work with Junki.”

“Junki is the worst one of all. I pity you for being stuck with him.”

Hee-chul laughs.

“Nah, he’s a good guy,” Hee-chul pats his shoulder. “They’re all good guys. They’re just misjudged, that’s all.”

 

The walk to the chicken restaurant is only five minutes away so they’ve arrived to Kyung-hoon’s house. Kyung-hoon thinks back to how they were huffing and puffing when they ran and reached the restaurant and cringes. He really needs to do some exercise.

“There you go, Hoonie,” Hee-chul says when they reach Kyung-hoon's house.

“I’m home,” Kyung-hoon says and hopes he doesn’t sound too sad.

“Yeah, you are,” Hee-chul answers with a chuckle.

“Thanks for taking me home.”

“Anytime,” Hee-chul says. He’s got an amused smile in his face like he’s so amused by Kyung-hoon's awkwardness. Kyung-hoon feels himself going red.

“Do you want to come in for a game of PUBG? A second win?” Kyung-hoon is asking suddenly. Hee-chul laughs again and Kyung-hoon cringes at how desperate that sounded. At least it made him laugh so it’s all good.

“I have work, but I’ll take a rain check on that,” Hee-chul pats his shoulder. “See you at school tomorrow.”

Kyung-hoon is suddenly grabbing his hand and tugging it so Hee-chul stops from walking away. When he turns to look at Kyung-hoon, he’s got a confused look on his face.

“I told my friends about you,” He says and Hee-chul scoffs.

“Am I your boyfriend? Where you going with this?”

Kyung-hoon shushes him and tells him to listen.

“I told them that we made up and they want to invite you to our next hangout.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Hee-chul answers. He sounds deflated and Kyung-hoon is saddened by that.

“No, no, they’re genuinely happy to meet you so you should come.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass, Kyunghoon-ah. If I went there, that would be my last day on earth.”

He turns to leave again.

“Junki hyung will be there. He’ll back you up. I also want to know how you two managed to be friends so that will be a great story to tell!”

Hee-chul mutters under his breath; Kyung-hoon is pretty sure he’s cursing Junki under his breath.

“That Junki hyung—he’s a persistent one,” Hee-chul sighs. “I tried so hard to ignore him at work and he inched closer, asking me my name and how I am and other stuff.”

Kyung-hoon's eyebrows rise in surprise.

“I ignored him because I kept thinking of how much you’d hate me if I became friends with your friend. You’d probably say something like 'he's stealing Junki from me' and hate me more. But then Junki hyung asked if I wanted to listen to this demo he was working on with his bass and I said sure, so he could leave me alone. He never did. I realised he was a pretty cool guy because his demo was sounding good and I guess I started talking to him.”

Hee-chul looks deep into Kyung-hoon's eyes.

“There’s your story, Kyunghoon-ah.”

He turns to leave and Kyung-hoon knows that means he’s not coming to their next hangout. The brunet wonders if he should ask him again since it’s not exactly a permanent answer. But then, the tiny part of him (the rational one) tells him that it is permanent.

“We’ll still hang out right?” He asks Hee-chul who’s leaving the premise.

Hee-chul stops and Kyung-hoon watches him chuckle. The curly brunet turns to him and nods before walking again.

Kyung-hoon stops him with the hand.

“I was really nervous, but my uncle helped me be less nervous by being an embarrassing guardian,” He tells Hee-chul who stopped and gave Kyung-hoon a hard stare.

Hee-chul knits his eyebrows together.

_Okay, and? Where you going with this you buffoon?_

“I know he helped me and all, but I think next time you should enter through the back door where the kitchen is,” He adds.

Hee-chul’s face portrays the feeling of realization; he chuckles and nods three times as if to say: okay, deal.

“I should try to find my ladder and climb to your room like I used to do,” He replies and this time, Kyung-hoon chuckles

He lets go of Hee-chul's hand and Hee-chul ruffles his hair and says bye like he used to do two years ago. It makes Kyung-hoon’s heart race and he realises how much he’s missed this.

 

Not just the hair ruffles.

 

They do hang out. A lot. At school and after school. Nobody calls him names because everybody fears Hee-chul apparently.

 

There was one incident where two boys were whispering and talking about him as he got changed for PE. Then, Hee-chul walked in and he had a pink bow in his hair and everyone shut their mouth as soon as he walked in. Even though, the pink bow was something to talk about.

Hee-chul doesn’t wear eye shadow when they hang out by themselves and only wears it in school, so the pink bow was the cherry on top to the makeup he wore to school.

Nobody talked about it.

 

The meetings are usually at Kyung-hoon's house because he has the PlayStation but one day, Hee-chul invites him to his house for dinner. He meets Hee-chul's parents and they’re thrilled when he walks in with a bottle of champagne in his hand. They give him bone-crushing hugs and kisses on the cheeks and he realizes that the feeling of family loving the friend rather than their own offspring is mutual.

It’s been a month since they met up and became friends again and yup, they’ve met each other a lot. Kyung-hoon could write novels on his adventures with Hee-chul—emphasis on the word 'novels' aka plural not singular.

When they hang out after school, all his friends are at work and when he’s not hanging out with Hee-chul, his friends are all free. It’s so convenient and so annoying. It feels like Hee-chul is the replacement and he doesn’t want him to be. So, he invites Hee-chul to the next hangout. Aka his birthday party with his friends.

Hee-chul doesn’t answer his texts.

_Yup, it’s permanent._

 

It’s October 6 and officially Kyung-hoon's birthday. He finds that out a lot quicker though because his embarrassing uncle walks in with a cake at midnight, singing happy birthday in a hushed tone as he carries the cake.

Kyung-hoon is a soft sleeper so it doesn’t take much effort for him to wake up. He’s also the cranky one where if he’s woken up, he’s cranky so when he gets up, he curses swears under his breath and declares hate on his uncle.

“You're so funny, Hoonie,” Someone says—which Kyung-hoon knows it’s not his uncle.

_What the fuck._

He rubs his eyes together—getting rid of every particle of the sleep dust in his eyes for a clearer vision. He rubs and rubs and rubs and after about twenty rubs, his eyes get clearer enough for him to know who it is that’s standing there.

“Happy birthday, Hoonie,” Hee-chul sing-songs.

_Again, what the fuck?_

His uncle comes closer to him in the bed and tells him to blow the candles and make a wish. Hee-chul walks to the other side of the bed, takes Kyung-hoon's hand and interlocks their fingers.

Kyung-hoon doesn’t notice his uncle giving Hee-chul a careful look and blows his candles instead. Hee-chul lets go of the hand to clap and Kyung-hoon claps too.

“Alright, you can cut the cake in the morning and each have a piece. I’m going to bed,” His uncle says.

His uncle tells Hee-chul to hold the cake for a minute. When the cake is in his hands, his uncle leans in to kiss him on the forehead.

“Happy birthday, bud.”

His uncle takes the cake away from Hee-chul's hands and wishes them both goodnight. When he’s gone, Hee-chul comes closer to the bed.

“Don’t question it, just accept it,” He tells Kyung-hoon.

Kyung-hoon knits his eyebrows together; he doesn’t have time to dwell on it because Hee-chul is leaning in and kissing his forehead—just like uncle Jang-hoon did just now.

“Happy birthday, Hoonie.”

Kyung-hoon realizes that his heart rate is getting faster after the kiss; he sits there with his eyes widened and his mouth hung open. He strokes his forehead a couple of times and since he’s not looking at Hee-chul, he doesn’t notice Hee-chul walking away.

“Wait, where you going?” He asks huskily when he does notice. He was going to ask Hee-chul why he did that, but his attention is now on the fact that Hee-chul is leaving.

“Home. My mom doesn’t know I snuck out.”

“It’s midnight,” Kyung-hoon says as he looks at his phone for the time.

“Exactly.”

“Did you wake up and come here?”

Hee-chul stops fiddling (he was putting on his jacket and his beanie) and Kyung-hoon wonders why he’s gone so quiet and shy. His hands are in the zipper of his jacket and his head is hung low as if he’s ashamed. He’s also tapping his feet constantly and circling them from time to time. He’s really fidgety.

“I stayed up,” He mumbles as his feet tap tap tap.

Hee-chul's head rises and he gives Kyung-hoon a soft, fond look.

“I stayed up for your birthday, Hoonie,” He tells Kyung-hoon in a soft voice that matches his soft eyes.

“Why?” Kyung-hoon answers in a soft voice. It’s just them and they don’t have to be quiet because talking loudly doesn’t get them noise complaints. He’s played enough video games to know this. His neighbours are never home because they’re always on business trips and when they are home, Kyung-hoon is not doing anything that loud.

“I wanted to be the first one to wish you happy birthday.”

“Why?”

He doesn’t stop speaking in that soft voice. Again, they don’t need to be soft. However, seeing Hee-chul in his room at midnight, that kiss, him staying up at midnight for the brunet makes Kyung-hoon want to whisper. It’s like they’re exchanging forbidden words, and no one should know what they’re talking about.

“I wasn’t there for you when you went through the shitty things so when we became friends again, I decided to be there for you—the first person in command. Whenever you needed me. That’s why I’m here as the first person to wish you happy birthday.”

Kyung-hoon doesn’t reply to him so Hee-chul starts zipping up his coat. He moves onto his gloves next and does a final adjust of the beanie on his head. He waves Kyung-hoon goodbye with his hand and makes his way out the door.

“Wait!”

Hee-chul stops to turn around and look at Kyung-hoon.

“Stay,” Kyung-hoon says, patting his bed.

“What?” Hee-chul asks in a hushed voice again.

“You can’t walk home at midnight all by yourself,” Kyung-hoon pats his bed. “Stay here and sleep.”

“Kyunghoon-ah...”

“You said I could have anything I wanted, and I want you to stay here and not walk alone in the streets and die,” Kyung-hoon pats his bed again. “Stay and don’t look for my sleeping bag because I know you and that’s what you are going to do.”

Hee-chul scoffs.

“You want to sleep together?”

Kyung-hoon nods; he bops his head like an excited child and Hee-chul chuckles.

“Just like old times,” Kyung-hoon says when Hee-chul starts to take his jacket off.

He takes his jacket off, his beanie off and his gloves off. They go on top of Kyung-hoon’s desk chair where it previously was and Kyung-hoon lifts the blanket when he walks over to the bed.

They lay in bed together—Kyung-hoon on the left and Hee-chul on the right. Hee-chul comments on how weird this whole thing is when Kyung-hoon asks if he’s comfortable enough and if he needs anything—like an extra pillow. Kyung-hoon laughs at the comment.

“We used to have sleepovers all the time; I never allowed you to sleep on the floor because I didn’t want you to have a bad back.”

Hee-chul chuckles.

“I know, I remember.”

“Nothing weird about it then, isn’t it?”

Hee-chul snorts.

“It is when you’ve not done it in a while and it’s been two years since the last time.”

Kyung-hoon turns to look at Hee-chul and Hee-chul turns to look at Kyung-hoon. He notices Kyung-hoon looking at him because he felt Kyung-hoon turning in the bed. Their faces are so close to each other that it makes Kyung-hoon’s heart race.

“We were bound to start at some point. It turned out to be today on my birthday.”

Hee-chul chuckles.

“I guess so,” He says and reaches across to pinch Kyung-hoon's cheek.

Kyung-hoon flinches and says “ow” really loudly which makes Hee-chul cackle really loudly. He punches Hee-chul's arm really hard and complains about the birthday boy not being treated right. It spurs Hee-chul on and he cackles again—loudly and maniacally.

“I hate you,” Kyung-hoon grits his teeth.

“Sure you do,” Hee-chul replies in an amused tone. The curly brunet gets kicked in the shin under the sheets and Hee-chul laughs again.

“Forget the stupid sleepover; get out of my house,” Kyung-hoon points to the door. “Go outside and perish in the dark.”

Hee-chul is left cackling.

“I didn’t even pinch you that hard,” He answers with a laugh.

Kyung-hoon pouts like he’s two years old and Hee-chul rolls his eyes when the brunet turns to his best friend with the pout.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry, you big baby,” Hee-chul strokes his cheek lovingly to heal it from the pinching incident. “You happy?”

“Well done, Kim Heechul-ssi.”

Hee-chul rolls his eyes.

“You’re so fucking weird,” He turns so that his back is facing Kyung-hoon instead of his face. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay, goodnight,” Kyung-hoon chirps.

It’s silent and it stays silent for a while. People looking at the pair would deem the pair as being asleep because it is that quiet.

“Psst, Chullie!”

Hee-chul snorts next to the brunet.

“Yes, Kyunghoon-ah?”

“Thank you for being here and being the first one to wish me happy birthday,” Kyung-hoon giggles. “Even though uncle Jang-hoon sang it first.”

Hee-chul turns his body towards Kyung-hoon.

“I told him that I will sing first and that tall ahjussi betrayed me,” Hee-chul rolls his eyes. “And I thought he was a smart guy because he prefers me over you.”

Kyung-hoon smacks his arm.

“Don’t be rude to a boy on his birthday.”

Hee-chul giggles and Kyung-hoon giggles too. He smacks Hee-chul again and tells him to not be rude to his uncle; the curly brunet rolls his eyes.

“I’m going to bed,” Hee-chul says and turns around again so his back is facing Kyung-hoon.

It’s silent again; you would think this time that they’re really asleep.

“So, what’s my gift then?” Kyung-hoon asks and Hee-chul snorts again.

“It’s a surprise,” The curly brunet answers.

“That’s no fun,” Kyung-hoon replies with a pout.

Hee-chul turns around and Kyung-hoon is still pouting. The curly brunet grabs hold of his lip ring and sways it left to right—despite Kyung-hoon's protests with many “ow” and “stop it.”

“It’s also not fun to be persistent and ask what you got for your birthday. Oh, also, not fun to keep talking at night.”

Hee-chul lets go of the lip ring.

“You’re all talk with your lip ring, you baby.”

Kyung-hoon raises his eyebrows in confusion.

“You think you’re so tough with your lip ring and your black attire but you’re just a baby,” Hee-chul explains.

Kyung-hoon smacks him again.

“Go to sleep, baby,” Hee-chul adds and Kyung-hoon smacks him again. Hee-chul laughs and turns around whispering 'good night’ to Kyung-hoon. Kyung-hoon wants to say something but Hee-chul shushes him and tells him to sleep.

So, he does fall asleep.

 

 

When he wakes up, Hee-chul is already gone and Kyung-hoon is a little bit sad. He goes downstairs to celebrate his birthday with his uncle and when he goes to his dining room, that’s when he sees it.

There is a wrapped present and a box of cupcakes on the dining table. A card is next to the gift and Kyung-hoon feels embarrassed that his uncle prepared this much for him. He is grateful, don't get him wrong. It's just that he feels like a child on his birthday.

He decides to read the card despite being embarrassed and uncomfortable. Hey! He's always been the dude who doesn't ask for much and would rather have his loved ones near him. Don't blame him or call him out on his preferences.

 

_Hey Hoonie._

_Once again, uncle Jang-hoon stole my thunder because he decided to prepare the cake instead of me doing it. So, enjoy these shit cupcakes from me. You can throw them in the bin if you want. Do whatever cause it’s your birthday. Hopefully my gift will make up for it._

_-  Chullie_

“Did he buy the cupcakes in the morning?” Kyung-hoon mumbles.

_So the gift is from Hee-chul._

He rips the gift open; once it’s open and in his hands, he becomes speechless and his eyes stay widen.

In his hand is a copy of Black Ops (the new one has just come out) and Kyung-hoon has wanted to buy it ever since the announcement was made.

_How did he know?_

He doesn’t have time to dwell because his uncle comes in with a present in his hand.

“Happy birthday bud,” His uncle says—thrusting the present in Kyung-hoon's hand.

Kyung-hoon rips the wrapping paper and finds a shoe box with the label of his favorite shoe brand. He opens the shoe box and finds the shoes he’s been looking forward to buying.

“Do you like it? It’s the shoes you’ve been dying to buy.”

Kyung-hoon nods and goes over to hug his uncle. His uncle is 2m tall so Kyung-hoon nuzzles his nose into his stomach. It’s comforting and one of the best feelings in the world.

“Let’s eat the cake and the cupcakes that Hee-chul brought,” His uncle says. Hearing Hee-chul’s name makes him think about his gift and how surprised he is still. His uncle’s gift seems stupid now because he still can’t stop thinking about it.

 

Hee-chul has to be there at his birthday party with him tomorrow with his friends. He _has_ to express his gratitude.

 

So that’s why he barges into Ye-jun’s house the next day instead of walking in.

“Happy belated birthday to you, you loser,” Junki cheers—raising his arms in the air.

“Where’s Ye-jun hyung?”

“I’m here,” Ye-jun answers—coming from behind with a bunch of DVDs in his hand. Sung-hee is behind Ye-jun with a pack of beer and a huge smirk in his face.

“We need to talk,” Kyung-hoon says in a serious tone which wipes the smirk off Sung-hee's mouth.

“About?” He asks with an arched eyebrow. Ye-jun beside him tells Kyung-hoon to wait with his hand; he tosses the DVDs to Woo-hyun and Woo-hyun catches all of them clumsily—almost dropping all of them.

“I want to invite Hee-chul,” Kyung-hoon thrusts his phone towards Ye-jun. “Call him and ask him to come over.”

Ye-jun’s expression turns into bewilderment and Sung-hee smirks again.

“This should be good,” He says and sets the beer down on the coffee table. He takes one beer for himself and sips it— clearly enjoying this.

“He hasn’t been coming to the hangout because he thinks you all hate him and want to murder him.”

Kyung-hoon crosses his arms. It feels good to do so because he feels quite powerful and assertive.

“He’ll come if the oldest ahjussi approves it and invites the dude himself.”

“For your information, I don’t hate him,” Junki says, raising his hand.

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“I know that, you idiot.”

“Junki says I’m supposed to hate him because he’s better at my job than I was but I don’t because I couldn’t give a flying fuck,” Woo-hyun says and Junki high-fives his friend.

“I don’t hate him either. I mean, I didn’t even know him, so I didn’t judge him and just let Kyung-hoon sort it out itself. But now, I know him and he’s a great guy.”

“What the fuck?” Kyung-hoon whispers in disbelief and confusion.

"Yeah, me and your best bud are now best buds," Sung-hee replies with a smirk.

“How do you know him?” He asks—still in disbelief and still confused.

“He comes to the PC room that I go to,” Sung-hee leans back and exhales out an ‘I’m impressed' breath. “He’s quite good at games.”

“So, no one hates him, Kyunghoon-ah,” Junki adds with a shrug.

“Do you hate him, honey?” Woo-hyun asks—coming over to Ye-jun and slinging an arm around his shoulder.

Kyung-hoon cringes at the nickname and Woo-hyun smirks. Ye-jun is still bewildered so he hasn’t said anything to contribute the conversation. Woo-hyun’s question remains unanswered.

Instead of answering him, Ye-jun dials the number and the four friends hear the dial. He put it in speaker and dialled the number without Kyung-hoon being persistent. It astonishes the brunet and his four friends.

Hee-chul doesn’t even let the phone go to dial and picks up instantly.

“Hi, Hoonie, what’s up?” Hee-chul answers and he sounds kinda sleepy.

Hee-chul falls asleep quite quickly and is not at all nocturnal. He’s only nocturnal when he has a night shift and it looks like he had one yesterday.

 

He’s also nocturnal when he’s staying up for Kyung-hoon's birthday apparently.

Kyung-hoon is still surprised about that. _Why did he decide to do that?_

 

Sung-hee snickers at the nickname and Kyung-hoon throws an evil stare towards his friend. They don’t have time to argue about that because Ye-jun clears his throat and speaks.

“It’s not Kyung-hoon, it’s Ye-jun,” He says and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. _As if Hee-chul is going to know who Ye-jun hyung is._

“Oh, hello,” Hee-chul says—voice sounding a lot clearer and a lot politer.

“Hi, I’m calling because we would really appreciate it if you joined me and the boys for a belated birthday party for Kyunghoon-ah,” Another throat clear. “We’re gonna watch scary movies that are scary enough to mess our pants and drink a lot of booze and eat pizzas till our stomach explodes. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

In his peripheral vision, Kyung-hoon notices Sung-hee stifling his laugh; the brunet wants to throw a cushion at his head or do other similar activities to make the guy shut up. The urge to strangle him also comes up but he doesn’t let that get to him.

There is no answer from Hee-chul. Kyung-hoon knows his friend is being hesitant and thinking it through a lot. If he had to put numbers in it, he would say 90% of Hee-chul’s brain is saying no, hang the phone up. Kyung-hoon knows him too well; even after two years, the memories and his knowledge of Kim Hee-chul is still lodged in his brain.

Ye-jun sighs exasperatedly.

“I promise I won’t skin you and give your meat to my dog. Kyung-hoon really wants you to come so I’ll behave,” Ye-jun looks at Kyung-hoon and pulls a face. “It’s his birthday and whatever the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets.”

Kyung-hoon chuckles at Ye-jun’s expression.

“Alright, I’ll be there in half an hour,” Hee-chul says and hangs up the phone. Kyung-hoon cringes at that because that looked quite rude and you want to be on your best behavior. But, Ye-jun doesn’t seem fazed by that. Instead, he hands Kyung-hoon his phone back and ruffles his hair. It makes him think that Ye-jun is going to try for him. That’s all Kyung-hoon wants. It doesn’t have to be perfect where Ye-jun and Hee-chul are friends. Civil is fine.

Kyung-hoon snorts.

Civil.

Look where that went for him and Hee-chul.

 

Hee-chul does come thirty minutes later and it’s such a weird first impression because when he walks in, he is met with Sung-Hee's ass in his vision.

They’re playing twister and Sung-hee's hands are both on the twister mat which is why he’s slouched, and his ass is in the air. Kyung-hoon is in charge of calling out the colors so he’s so glad that his body is not positioned weirdly. My god, imagine if that happened. Hee-chul seeing him all bent over.

“Hello?”

Sung-hee curses under his breath and gets up causing all other friends to crash and fall. Sung-hee walks over to Hee-chul to offer his hand for a handshake and the three boys groan from the mat because their bodies just went through a twisted experience.

“What a weird thing to walk in huh? That’s what we’re like all the time so you got the chance to see it early,” Sung-hee caresses his black leather jacket. “And everyone says we’re thugs that cause havoc.”

Sung-hee walks to where the beers are and hands Hee-chul a beer.

“You’re lucky we're like this and not gang members.”

“I guess?” Hee-chul answers with uncertainty.

_Poor Hee-chul._

“What a pointless thing to say, Son Sung-hee,” Junki says and stretches his limbs to get rid of any pains and aches.

Sung-hee gives him the finger and Junki says something about him being older and _what kind of a dongsaeng does that to his hyung?_ Kyung-hoon walks over to Hee-chul to say hi and rescue him from his idiotic friends.

Hee-chul laughs when Kyung-hoon apologizes on their behalf.

“Hi, I’m Woo-hyun,” Woo-hyun says—walking over to the pair—and shaking Hee-chul’s hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” Woo-hyun laughs. “Nice to meet the guy that took over my job.”

Hee-chul’s eyes light up and he says “Oh yeah” in a really enthusiastic way.

“Junki hyung told me what happened; that sucks, your ex-girlfriend in the same place as you,” He adds.

Woo-hyun laughs.

“Yeah, it is awkward.”

“If it makes you feel better, she doesn’t work there anymore. She moved to USA to go to college.”

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah, so if you want to come back to the theater, I can talk to someone and hook you up. I mean, I’m guessing you miss the free movie tickets you used to get with your job.”

“Oh, don’t even get me started,” Woo-hyun exhales. “The tickets and the food have gone so expensive. I bumped into one of the managers a couple of weeks ago and he told me it’s better to get food from somewhere else and eat it than get food in the theater.”

Hee-chul nods in agreement. Kyung-hoon feels proud watching them because his two worlds are finally colliding and becoming one. He’s also feeling left out so it’s a weird mixture of feelings that contradict each other.

“Anyway, let me know if you can find me a job there,” Woo-hyun says and Hee-chul says he will. Woo-hyun pats him on the shoulder a couple of times and goes back to his seat.

Kyung-hoon gets ready to escort Hee-chul to a seat when suddenly Ye-jun appears.

“Hi, can I borrow Hee-chul for a second?”

Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen and so does Hee-chul’s. Ye-jun rolls his eyes.

“I’m not gonna kill him.”

Hee-chul turns to Kyung-hoon and tells him that it won’t be long, and he’ll be right back. Kyung-hoon watches them very carefully and thoroughly—monitoring every step and every movement when they leave.

“I guess Hee-chul is getting the over-protective dad talk from Ye-jun,” Junki sing-songs as he waltzes over to Kyung-hoon. Kyung-hoon shoves him and goes to sit on the couch and Junki cackles.

“You had to have seen that coming—given your history with the guy.”

Kyung-hoon pulls Junki’s hair and Junki retaliates. They end up getting into a cat fight with both boys pulling each other’s hair. Kyung-hoon is so interested in the game that he doesn’t notice Hee-chul coming back in the room.

The two boys break apart when Hee-chul takes a seat near Junki.

Junki eyes him from head to toe.

“No broken bones—nice.”

“What did he say?” Kyung-hoon asks.

“He said that he’s glad I’m here and he will try to be civil and behave. However, if I do anything bad to hurt Kyung-hoon, he’s going to skin me and give the meat to his dog.”

Junki scoffs.

“What a joker; he doesn’t even have a dog.”

“Yeah, but he looks like he'll get a dog and give the meat to his new dog,” Hee-chul replies. He’s got a horrified look on his face when he says that which makes Junki laugh.

Junki pats him on the back reassuringly.

“He’s not that scary; he’s a big softie and not fit to be a leader of a gang member.”

Junki winks.

“Don’t worry about it; I got your back.”

Hee-chul gives Junki a big grin and leans into Junki’s side hug. Kyung-hoon smiles at the sight of the two of them hugging and ignores Sung-hee mouthing the words, “what happened?”

“Hey, you want to listen to a demo I’ve been working on?” Junki asks Hee-chul when they break the hug. Hee-chul grins widely again and offers Junki his palm.

“This time, it’s got Ye-jun on the drums and those two on the guitars,” Junki adds—pointing to Sung-hee and Woo-hyun.

Hee-chul gets one of the earbuds and sticks it in his ear. Kyung-hoon watches him listen to the song and gradually close his eyes and bop along to the beat. Junki grins widely beside him—very happy to see positive feedback from Hee-chul.

“Hyung, this is amazing,” Hee-chul exclaims after he’s finished listening to the song.

Junki bows and says thank you a million times. He sounds boastful and quite proud that he produced such a good song. Kyung-hoon's proud of him.

“Have you tried being a band with you and the boys?” Hee-chul suggests after he hands Junki his phone and the earbuds back.

“Imagine us as a band,” Ye-jun says with a scoff and the three of them nearly get a heart attack because they didn’t know he was there. Or, the fact that he was walking over.

“They all think that we’re angsty boys who have too much issues and attitude. Being in a band is going to make us look even more angsty,” He sits next to Kyung-hoon. “That should be fun.”

Hee-chul has something he wants to say but he doesn’t say it because he’s still intimidated by Ye-jun. Ye-jun rolls his eyes when he notices how tense Hee-chul gets when he sits down.

“I’m not that horrible, you know,” His lips stretch to a kind smile. “I’m glad you like the song and think that we should be a band.”

Hee-chul’s shoulders go from tense to relaxed; he gives a similar smile back to Ye-jun and mumbles, “you’re welcome.” It makes Sung-hee (who’s playing games in his phone across the room) snicker.

“Who would be our vocalist though if we were to hypothetically be a band?” Ye-jun asks—tapping his chin and looking up to think deep and hard.

“I was thinking Hoonie?” Hee-chul's eyes flicker to the brunet. “He’s always wanted to be a singer since he was four years old.”

All heads that are down rise. Ye-jun’s and Junki’s eyebrows rise in surprise and Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen.

“Kyung-hoon never told us that,” Ye-jun says in a slower cadence—shocked at the juicy secret that’s just been exposed.

“He’s lying,” Kyung-hoon reaches across to slap Hee-chul. “Hee-chul is a big joker so you shouldn’t listen to what he says.”

“Have you guys not gone to coin karaoke together?” Hee-chul gasps. “Damn, he wanted to be a singer ever since he was four years old.”

“He’s lying.”

“When we go to coin karaoke, we’re always drinking so we don’t know what he sounds like but now I think we should start paying attention,” Junki replies and the three boys nod their head in agreement.

“No, you don’t have to because Kim Hee-chul is a pathological liar,” Kyung-hoon answers—glaring at Hee-chul.

“Maybe you should sing to us and we can know if he’s lying or not,” Sung-hee suggests with a smug smile on his face. Kyung-hoon hasn’t ever seen Sung-hee without a smirk in his face today; it’s like he’s the one that’s enjoying this the most.

Kyung-hoon hits Ye-jun in the back of his head.

“Go order the pizza; isn’t that what you came to ask us about?”

“Yeah, but this is more interesting,” Ye-jun answers and leans in— with chin resting on the palm on his hand and a big smile on his face.

“Go or I’ll expose everybody’s secrets!” Kyung-hoon whacks him in the head with a menu. “We want the same thing; Hee-chul will eat any pizza, he’s not that picky.”

“We know everything about everyone,” Sung-hee adds with a scoff.

“Yeah, but Hee-chul doesn’t.”

Ye-jun rolls his eyes, picks up the menu and leaves but not before he calls Kyung-hoon a killjoy. He mumbles something about wanting to hear Kyung-hoon’s voice and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes too.

The mood dies and Sung-hee goes back to his game. Junki pulls out his phone and Kyung-hoon decides to text his uncle because his uncle will never let him live it down if he doesn’t respond to the text he got ten minutes ago.

“So how did you guys meet?” Hee-chul says suddenly after a couple of minutes has passed.

Sung-hee gets up from his seat and stretches his limbs. Everyone hears his bones cracking and Sung-hee lets out a satisfied sigh.

“I’m on the waiting list in the game, so I’ll be the one to explain to him.”

Sung-hee explains the music store story, the movie theater with Junki and Woo-hyun, the arcade with Ye-jun and Sung-hee and lastly, Kyung-hoon’s story with his fighting parents. Hee-chul’s face falls at the mention of the last part and Kyung-hoon notices.

“Hey, it’s all in the past. I’ve forgiven and forgotten and we’re friends again,” He tells Hee-chul.

“Yeah,” Hee-chul exhales.

"Aw, you guys are cute," Junki says with a big proud smile.

“It makes me curious though, why did Hee-chul not rescue you and Sung-hee did instead? Junki asks after a few minutes. Seems like’s he’s on the waiting list too. Or, he died too early. The second one is more plausible because Junki sucks.

Woo-hyun comes to sit next to Sung-hee who’s sitting where Ye-jun sat earlier.

“Hee-chul must have had a good reason to not come—unless he didn’t want to come,” He says.

Junki rolls his eyes.

“Of course, he had a good reason! Do you think this pretty boy is heartless!?”

“Maybe he was scared he was going to get hit by Kyung-hoon’s parents,” Ye-jun says—reappearing from the kitchen where he went to make a phone call to the pizza place.

“No, my parents adored Hee-chul,” Kyung-hoon adds.

“Then there’s another reason,” Junki taps his chin. “Maybe even a story.”

“Is there?” Kyung-hoon asks tentatively and the rest of the boys lean in closer to listen.

“Yeah but it’s a long one and a private one I will disclose,” Hee-chul mumbles.

“That’s fine, it’s none of our business,” Woo-hyun adds and gets glares from Junki, Ye-jun and Sung-hee.

_Damn, even Ye-jun hyung. is participating._

“That’s gonna make us nosier and more curious, kid,” Junki says and Sung-hee nods enthusiastically.

“Yeah, but it’s the dude’s business and we shouldn’t nosy around. Plus, Kyung-hoon doesn’t want that,” Woo-hyun adds and he gets another hard stare.

“Wow, you really are Ye-jun’s wife,” Sung-hee says—looking at Woo-hyun with a look of disgust.

 

Woo-hyun is the mom of the group and he’s a quiet one. He only talks when he has to say something and doesn’t bother holding a conversation. Although he’s quiet, he gives great advice and is quite sensitive. His ex-girlfriend loved that he was sensitive and caring and his friends teased him mercilessly when she said that on a movie night. Now, she’s in the USA and weirdly, Kyung-hoon’s going to miss her.

 

She always treated them to dinner and free food is guaranteed to make anyone like a person so that might have been a big influence.

 

Nah, she was a good person and Kyung-hoon was sure they were going to get married.

 

“I am actually curious though,” Kyung-hoon adds and everyone looks at Kyung-hoon in sync. Woo-hyun’s eyes widen.

“Kyunghoon-ah,” Hee-chul drawls in a wary voice as if he’s trying to warn him on what will happen if Pandora’s box gets opened.

“No, no, no, I never asked you what happened, and I’ve always wanted to know what happened. It’s my birthday and whatever the birthday boy wants, the birthday boy gets.”

Hee-chul stays silent and he looks very hesitant. _Why is he so hesitant? Is it that bad?_

“C’mon, it’s a good way to get closure,” Kyung-hoon tells him anyway even though he’s hesitant himself.

“Please, for me?” Kyung-hoon asks—showing the curly brunet the puppy dog eyes. Hee-chul still doesn’t say anything and this time, the boys—excluding Kyung-hoon—gives Hee-chul puppy dog eyes.

“I am gonna reveal the story, don’t worry,” Hee-chul says and the boys—excluding Kyung-hoon—cheer and raise their arms in the air.

“You just have to promise me something though,” He adds.

“What is it?”

“When I finish this story, promise me that nothing will change between us.”

“Fuck, this is so intense,” Ye-jun says with a big exhale.

“Yeah, isn’t it great?” Sung-hee adds and Junki rolls his eyes.

“I promise,” Kyung-hoon answers—not listening to his friends get excited.

“You promised; keep that promise and don’t freak out too much,” Hee-chul says meekly.

“Just tell us!” Sung-hee exclaims and Junki slaps his arm to shush him.

Hee-chul exhales out a big breath and Sung-hee rubs his hands in excitement.

 

The curly haired clears his throat and all the boys lean in to listen.

 

“When your parents had that big fight for the first time, remember how I didn’t come to school that day?”

Kyung-hoon nods.

“Yeah, I had to go to Incheon International Airport to pick up Byung-jae—my cousin.”

 

Kim Byung-jae is the son of Hee-chul’s aunt—his dad’s sister—and he is one of the most infuriating child on planet earth. Firstly, his parents are rich, and they always rub it in the faces at how rich they are.  Secondly, he’s four years younger than Hee-chul so when Hee-chul was ten, the monster broke Hee-chul’s telescope and stole all his toys (he didn’t let Hee-chul play.) Lastly, Byung-jae comes to visit every two years because his parents go to a business trip and they don’t know where the hell to drop their child. Due to his spoiled behavior, he’s rude and Kyung-hoon doesn’t like him one bit.

 

“When I went to the airport, your parents were fighting again,” Hee-chul says.

“Wait, the night wasn’t the first fight they had?” Sung-hee asks and Junki thumps him in the head.

“Let him finish!”

“Alright!” Sung-hee holds his hands up in surrender. “I’ll be quiet.”

“My mom wanted to get in there and see what’s happening or try to stop them, but we had to go pick him up from the airport.”

 

Byung-jae lives in the UK and Kyung-hoon feels bad for all the nice Brits out there that has to tolerate Byung-jae’s behavior. Well, he knows they’re nice because Tei hyung said so. It might not actually be factual.

 

Tei lives in the UK because he went to college there, got married and is having the perfect cookie cutter life. He’s a close family friend and Kyung-hoon considers him one of his closest friends—if he had to exclude the boys and Kim Hee-chul.

 

"That night, while we were having dinner, we heard them fighting again.”

 

_“They’re fighting again,” Hee-chul said with a sad sigh as he sipped his hot chocolate drink that his aunt sent from Belgium._

 

_Belgian chocolates are to die for and Hee-chul would marry it if he could. His aunt is a boasting, self-absorbed, narcissistic woman but she still has good taste._

 

_“Yeah,” His mum said with a big sigh—similar to his._

_“Should we do something?” His dad asked. He still hadn’t finished his dinner, so it came out all muffled. They still understood him though._

_“Like what? Go over there and stop it?” His mum asked._

_Hee-chul got up from his chair and got ready to leave to go to the Min household. His mum grabbed his arm and he turned around with an annoyed face._

_“No, Heechul-ah.”_

_“You’ll get caught in the crossfire, are you crazy?” His dad exclaimed._

_“Kyunghoon-ah’s parents love me so they’re not gonna hit me or do something with me. I’ve got to stop it if you two aren’t going to stop it.”_

_“Kim Hee-chul,” His dad said in that parental tone. That tone that gets you to stop what you’re doing and be scared. Stop what you’re doing and be guilty at your actions._

_“Fine, I get it!” He raised his arms up in surrender. “But I am going to text Kyunghoon-ah and ask him to come over.”_

_“Why, so you can suck his dick in the middle of the night?” Byung-jae asked with a snort all of a sudden._

_His parents turned to look at Byung-jae and he gave them a big wide grin that resembled the devil’s smile.  They forgot that he was there with them on the dining table. He was too busy playing Roblox, so his parents forgot there was another person._

_“Auntie, didn’t Hee-chul tell you? Your son has a big crush on Min Kyung-hoon. He wants to kiss him, marry him and be homos together.”_

_Hee-chul’s eyes widened and his hands started to ball up into fists. He was angry, and he wanted to express that anger by hurting the homophobic bastard._

_“Byung-jae, don’t you dare say that word,” His dad said in that same parental voice._

_“Kyunghoon-ah’s parents are fighting and I don’t want him in that toxic household,” Hee-chul gritted._

_“Because you love him, isn’t it?” Byung-jae asked with a big smirk on his face. Oh how, Hee-chul wanted to wipe that smirk off his face._

_“Fag,” Byung-jae hissed and his parents’ eyes widened._

_“Kim Byung-jae,” His dad drawled in the parental voice._

_“Watch what you say,” His mum said and Byung-jae got up from the dining chair—slamming his hands in the table._

_“It is true what I said though! Your son likes boys! Your son will never get you a daughter in law! Your son is a fag and he shouldn’t live in this household! It’s true! Ask him!”_

_His dad got from his chair and he started yelling at Byung-jae. He was pointing and telling Byung-jae that his behavior is unacceptable and he should stop.  Hee-chul heard him yell “GO TO YOUR ROOM” in a loud, booming voice and Byung-jae started going to his room._

_He passed Hee-chul when he was walking and stopped to whisper in Hee-chul’s ear._

_“Go get him then, dick-sucker,” He whispered._

_That was the last straw._

_Hee-chul’s hands went to Byung-jae’s neck and he started squeezing and squeezing. He started squeezing to get his anger out and Byung-jae started suffocating in front of him. He was choking and trying to get his words out but Hee-chul didn’t let him._

_Next thing he knew, he was going to the emergency room at 12 in the morning._

_“Mom, I’m sorry,” he told his mom when she opened the door to the car._

_“It’s true, isn’t it?”_

_A gentle hand on his shoulder._

_“You like him.”_

_Hee-chul nodded._

_“I was going to give him a letter to confess and tell him that he doesn’t need to feel the same way. I just wanted to let him know so that I’m not haunted by it anymore. It’s more cathartic if you confess it. Byung-jae must have seen the letter.”_

_“You should give him the letter,” His mom said and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Hee-chul didn’t have time to reply because his mom got in the car and he had to follow her._

 

“The reason I didn’t come rescue you was because I was in the emergency room for choking my cousin,” Hee-chul mutters.

The entire room is silent and stunned. Sung-hee’s mouth hangs wide open, Ye-jun’s eyes widen, Junki inhales and exhales, Kyung-hoon stares into space and doesn’t move and Woo-hyun keeps muttering “damn” under his breath.

“So, that’s the story.”

Nobody says anything, and all remain stunned. Five minutes pass and suddenly, Junki jolts up from his seat.

“See, I told you he liked someone!” He exclaims—pointing at Hee-chul.

Sung-hee rolls his eyes.

“How do you know he still likes Kyung-hoon?”

“Do you still like me?” Kyung-hoon asks Hee-chul—causing Sung-hee to let out a tiny gasp.

Hee-chul doesn’t answer.

“That’s a yes; if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have hesitated to answer,” Junki adds—enthusiastically pointing at Hee-chul. His friends are more reactive than Kyung-hoon is and Hee-chul has a crush on him.

Sung-hee hits him on the back of his head.

“He might not want to answer because he doesn’t want to hurt Kyung-hoon’s feelings; what makes you think he likes him still?”

“Why would Kyung-hoon be upset? It’s not like Kyung-hoon likes him back,” Junki exclaims—rubbing his head.

“Do you?” Sung-hee asks.

“Why are you guys being so nosy about this? All we wanted was the explanation and he bravely told us the story. No need to be nosy and invade their privacy,” Ye-jun says and Hee-chul looks at him with a thankful look in his eyes. Ye-jun smiles back at the curly brunet when he notices the eyes.

“Fine, we’ll drop it!” Sung hee exclaims—throwing up his hands.

“I have one question left and I’ll leave you alone,” Junki says—looking at Hee-chul. Hee-chul nods and Junki pumps his fist in the air.

“Is Kyung-hoon the reason you got suspended and got detention?” Junki says after experiencing the feeling of euphoria for about five minutes.

“Yeah,” Hee-chul exhales which surprises Kyung-hoon. Just like getting startled by something, Kyung-hoon jumps a little when he hears that.

“Why?” He asks Hee-chul.

“The detention happened because: when you left school, people started wondering if you got kicked out of school. Then word came out that your parents died in the car accident and you were the killer. People started whispering and coming over to say sorry because I was best friends with a murderer. It pissed me off, but I managed to keep it in. The last straw was when Lee Jang-in, the school’s favorite troublemaker, came up to me and said that he’ll take care of me and be my bodyguard just in case you kill me next,” Hee-chul sighs. “I got detention because I broke his nose.”

“Damn,” Junki mutters.

“The suspension happened because: when I was in gym near my locker, Yong Dong-hwi—the idiot’s best friend—came up to me and pulled his pants down in front of the whole class. He told me that he’s happy for me to blow him since you’re not around and you can’t have sex when your partner’s in jail,” He sighed again. “I choked him and ended up getting suspended.”

“Damn,” Junki mutters again.

“So, choking must be a thing for you, huh?” Sung-hee asks with a teasing manner; he ends up getting thumped in the head by Junki.

“What? I’m just trying to lighten the mood!”

“Not the time!” Junki exclaims and the other boy raises his hands up in surrender again.

“Anyway, people are scared of me and won’t say shit about you because those two boys are the strongest boys in school. Everyone knows what I’ve done to those two boys—even newcomers who’ve just entered high-school.”

“Damn,” Junki mutters again.

“I defended you and will defend you again and again—no questions asked,” Hee-chul’s eyes flicker to Kyung-hoon’s eyes. “To answer your question earlier, yes I still like you—a lot.”

Kyung-hoon’s mind suddenly flashes up with an early interaction he had with Hee-chul.

 

_“I was worried because I thought you changed your opinions on your favourite place.”_

_Hee-chul shakes his head._

_“Nah, when I like something, I will keep on liking it and never change.”_

 

It finally makes sense in his head. But he doesn’t have time to dwell on it because Hee-chul suddenly gets up and the boys watch him leave Ye-jun’s house—slamming the door behind him.

“This is the worst birthday party I’ve been to,” Junki says after five minutes of stunned silence. Sung-hee nods beside him and they hear the doorbell ring.

_Perfect timing._

 

Kyung-hoon and Hee-chul don’t talk for a few weeks. Hee-chul doesn’t turn up to school and Kyung-hoon ends up spending his lunchtime with Hani in the art room. He feels bad for ever doubting her and calling her evil in her head because she’s lovely and a great girl he would love to befriend.

Kyung-hoon regretting his first impression on Hani makes him ponder a lot because: why did he feel so irked when Hani hugged Hee-chul when they first met? Why did he not want Hani to kiss Hee-chul? Why was he a little happy when Hee-chul revealed Hani was gay? Does he like Hee-chul back? Is _he_ gay? Or is he just thinking about these things because now he knows Hee-chul’s feelings?

He tells Hani what happened, and she pouts in sadness a lot. He finds it cute.

 

“Did you know that he liked me?” He asks her on the fourth week of Hee-chul and Kyung-hoon not speaking to one another.

 

Hee-chul had an accident so sometimes he will go to Physio or to the doctors to make sure his leg is still stable and nothing bad has happened. For that, he’s allowed time off so Kyung-hoon thinks that’s what he’s done. It would make sense for the school to allow him time off when his leg does go through something fatal because he needs time off to rest his leg. That is why, it’s not so weird that he’s not come to school for weeks and just taken a sick day. Or sick week.

 

It pisses Kyung-hoon a little because Hee-chul made him keep a promise and the promise was: the story will not let them affect their friendship and their lives. Hee-chul broke the promise when it was him that suggested it in the first place.

 

“Yeah because Momo kept getting rejected by him,” Hani answers and bites into an apple slice.

“Momo?”

“This Japanese girl that I work with at the cosmetics shop. She really liked him and asked him out, but he said no so she wondered what was wrong with her and kept changing up her looks to impress him. Nothing worked so I asked him why he kept rejecting her because he hadn’t dated at all. He said he likes someone else and then I found out—from a drunken encounter—that it was some guy named Hoonie or Min Kyung-Hoon.”

“So, when you met me for the first time…?”

“I knew it was you that he liked, and I understood why he liked you.”

Hani boops his nose.

“You’re a cute one, Min Kyung-Hoon.”

Kyung-hoon blushes at the compliment and the two share a hug. She hands him an apple slice; he gives her his packet of shrimp flavored chips.

“You’re also very kind so I don’t know what those people were saying about you,” She boops his nose. “You are quite the opposite of what they say.”

Kyung-hoon hides his face in his hands and Hani cackles near him. He raises his head up to see Hani smirking at him and he wonders what crazy antic she has up her sleeves.

“Should I help you two get together?” She asks in such an innocent voice. It does not match the look she had earlier—all smug and mischievous.

“I don’t even know if I like him yet.”

Hani snorts.

“Judging by our first impression, I think you do.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were glaring at me so much because I hugged him and touched your man,” Hani says with a laugh.

Kyung-hoon scrunches his nose in disgust.

“Don’t say your man.”

“It’s true though, he is your man. He only belongs to you and you only. He has no interest in dating anyone.”

“Well, he should stop because I don’t like him like that,” Kyung-hoon answers and crosses his arms to say he’s serious and 100% factual about this. It makes her snort.

The bell rings and the pair stand up.

“Text me when you kiss him,” Hani says.

“I’m not gonna kiss him!” He exclaims but she’s already running towards her class.

 

Tei hyung comes to visit from the UK on the sixth week of Hee-chul and Kyung-hoon not speaking to one another. After they share a hug, Tei ruffles his hair and Kyung-hoon feels something warm in his chest. He’s missed him.

“How’ve you been, kid?”

“Good, good, but I’m not from the UK. How’s UK and the wife!? How’s the exciting life!?”

Tei laughs.

“She’s fine—in fact, she’s expecting,” Tei says with a proud smile. Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen and he hits Tei really hard on the back in excitement.

“Really? Do you know the sex of the baby? How far along is she? What do you want it to be? Have you got the sonogram?”

“Calm down! Show me to my room and we can sit down and chat,” Tei taps his suitcase. “I have some gifts for you.”

 

Turns out Tei hyung’s wife is only six weeks pregnant and the sonogram and the gender isn’t something Kyung-hoon can know about yet because it’s too early. Although, Tei promised Kyung-hoon he will update the brunet on anything and everything about the baby.

 

Kyung-hoon also received gifts from his hyung which were: a perfume set for Hugo Boss he got from the duty-free shops and a shirt from Ralph Lauren which Kyung-hoon assumed were from the same place. Tei also got him loads of chocolates that they don’t get in Korea. What is with chocolate and adults always bringing it to you as a gift? Kyung-hoon is only six years younger than Tei but he’s still being treated as a kid.

 

“So, I bumped into Hee-chul on the way here,” Tei says when they’re sat on the guest bed (Tei’s bed for four weeks.)

“Oh?”

“I didn’t know you two were friends again,” He says—putting a piece of Aero chocolate in his mouth.

“Oh yeah, he was assigned to be my buddy when I went back to school and we got to become friends again.”

“So, you forgive him and don’t hate him anymore?” Tei asks with a pointed look—the one that his uncle gives him sometimes. It’s the parental look and it’s supposed to make Kyung-hoon feel uncomfortable, but he doesn’t.

Instead, the thoughts of Hee-chul and his story appear in his head.

 

_“I defended you and will defend you again and again—no questions asked,” Hee-chul’s eyes flicker to Kyung-hoon’s eyes. “To answer your question earlier, yes I still like you—a lot.”_

 

Tei notices Kyung-hoon staring off into distance and not elaborating on his answer.

“Your expression tells me there’s a story behind your reconciliation and you don’t want to talk about it,” Tei says—placing a comforting hand on his back.

Kyung-hoon doesn’t answer because he doesn’t want to make it obvious there is a story because he’ll have to talk about it later. He stays quiet to stay nonchalant but regrets it because it’s better to speak if you want to be nonchalant.

“Go to your room and play your game or something. I am feeling tired after my flight, so I’ll take a nap.”

Kyung-hoon nods and gets off the bed to let him sleep. When he leaves, Tei calls him and he turns his head around.

“You’ll tell me later?”

Kyung-hoon nods and gives him a smile as a promise that he definitely will. Dammit, see, this is what he meant when he was trying to be nonchalant. How could he fail at being nonchalant?

 

He does tell him later and gets some disgusting advice from Tei; it’s something not safe for work and Kyung-hoon wants to burn his ears because he can’t stop picturing him and Hee-chul in that scenario. He also gives Kyung-hoon sage advice about doing what you want to do and if the feelings are not reciprocated, he should let Hee-chul down gently because he’s liked Kyung-hoon for so long. Since Kyung-hoon is not sure about his feelings, Tei suggests to: think hard about it and not rush it.

It is good advice but Kyung-hoon could have gotten it without the sexual education from his close friend.

 

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

 

Kyung-hoon’s eyes pop open at the sound of the noise. He’s always been a light sleeper and will wake up even if a tiny cricket makes a noise, so he assumes he’s the first one to hear the noise in the house.

 

Kyung-hoon is not ready to fight off a burglar at this hour. He’s a decent fighter because he did Aikido as a child but he’s not ready to use those skills right now. For all he knows, he could be outnumbered, and the burglars could have weapons. As exciting as it is on movies, Kyung-hoon will not be able to fight all of them.

 

He goes to the top of the staircase and sticks his ear closer to downstairs; he checks to see if anyone is speaking in a low register because burglars usually speak to each other in a low register if they’re discussing something. They also make grand entrances and mercilessly kill or attack if they want to. So far, Kyung-hoon hasn’t heard anyone scream or make a ruckus, so the first option is the most plausible.

 _Are they even burglars?_ He’s not hearing anything.

He slowly goes downstairs, and the banging noise doesn’t stop as he walks, step by step. He finds it odd because if there was a home invasion, the noise would have stopped. Unless the neighbors next door is getting invaded and his house is not the target.

He turns on the light for the hallway and checks every room that’s in the downstairs area.

Living room, Dining room, Kitchen, the toilet downstairs, the garden.

Nope, nobody came in.

The front door isn’t unlocked which makes Kyung-hoon feel stupid because that’s where he’s supposed to look first.

_It’s next door._

 

When he goes to the garden, the banging noise is faint so that proves his theory of the neighbor getting attacked. He starts to make his way towards the front door to go next door when suddenly, he hears voices.

“Mom, let me in,” The voice says.

Unless he’s mistaken, his neighbors do not have kids. If they did, they’re not the young ones and more on the adult side with their own jobs and their own lifestyles. Kyung-hoon hasn’t seen anyone else except the neighbors so it must make sense for the kids to be living somewhere else with their significant others.

If there are kids, then where are they and what kind of psychos are their parents to separate them? That’s negligence and bad parenting and Kyung-hoon is disgusted just by the thought of it. If the kids are tiny human beings, then they must be together and not banging on the door asking for their mother.

_What the hell is happening?_

 

Kyung-hoon goes outside and the voice finally sounds clearer as he walks over to the other house.

“Mom, I’m sorry I drank again, let me in,” The voice says and Kyung-hoon decides that the theory of the person being a tiny child is not true.

He goes to the front door and when he gets a closer look at the perpetrator, he realizes it’s definitely not a small child. He’s wearing doreamon bottoms and he has a red sweatshirt on the top.

_Wait a minute._

“Mom, it’s Heechul-ah,” The voice slurs.

_What the fuck? What is Hee-chul doing here?_

Kyung-hoon grabs a hold of the boy and he gets the curly boy to turn around and face him.

“Hee-chul?”

“Is that you, mom?” Hee-chul asks and then grins dopily.

“No, it’s Kyung-hoon,” The brunet answers and scrunches his nose in disgust at Hee-chul’s stinky breath. _Yup, he definitely drank a lot._

“Hoonie?” Hee-chul asks in a confused manner.

Kyung-hoon sighs exasperatedly.

“Yes, it’s Hoonie.”

“What are you doing in my house?” Hee-chul asks in a dazed and confused manner. Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“This isn’t your house because you moved when you were ten.”

“Did I?” He asks in that same dazed manner.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes again and lifts the curly boy so that his arm is slung around Kyung-hoon’s shoulder. Kyung-hoon is too sleep deprived to take Hee-chul home and walk so he looks for the flower pot hanging on the ceiling and reaches around when he finds it.

 

The thing is, Hee-chul and Kyung-hoon used to babysit their dog when the neighbors were on a business trip, so the key used to be there all the time for them to find it and use it. Sometimes, they used to sneak into the house and use the neighbor’s pool in the garden, so they’ve used the key so many times that they’ve lost count.

 

Kyung-hoon finds the key and uses his free hand to unlock the door. His other hand is slung over Hee-chul’s waist because he doesn’t want the boy to fall over and want him to safely get into the neighbor’s bed, so he can get some rest. He uses his door to kick the door open and slowly guides Hee-chul to the bedroom. When they reach the bedroom, he lays Hee-chul down on the bed and tucks him in.

Just when he’s ready to turn around and leave, Hee-chul grabs a hold of his wrist.

“Stay,” He commands.

“I’m going to sleep in the guest room,” Kyung-hoon tells him.

“No, sleep with me and cuddle me! I need my mom’s cuddles,” He answers in a baby voice and opens his arms wide—ready for a hug.

_For god sake.  He’s such a mamma’s boy._

 

He still thinks Kyung-hoon is his mother and he’s home safely. Nothing to do with how he’s invading someone’s home and sleeping in their bed. Nope. Nothing. No guilt whatsoever.

_How much did he drink!?_

 

They lie on the bed together and Hee-chul spoons him like he was expecting. As long as Hee-chul is fast asleep, anything is a pass, and nothing is considered weird, even spooning someone you like, so Kyung-hoon lets it go and shuts his eyes.

After about twenty minutes, Kyung-hoon feels Hee-chul shuffle in the bed. He doesn’t question it because Hee-chul twists and turns in his sleep a lot, so the brunet shuts his eyes close. Then he realizes that there is no warm presence and finds out that Hee-chul has detangled himself from the spooning. His back is turned away from Kyung-hoon and Kyung-hoon misses the warm feeling.

“Mom, I’m really sorry I drank so much,” Hee-chul whispers in the dark.

“Why did you drink?”

“Because I felt shit for breaking mine and Hoonie’s promise so I was going to go to his house to apologize but Tei was at the front door,” He answers in a sad voice.

“What’s wrong with Tei?”

“He likes Hoonie.”

Kyung-hoon softly gasps at the mention of that.

“Tei is married.”

“Yeah but I think he’s been in love with Hoonie for a very long time. Whenever we hung out together—the three of us—Tei used to give Kyung-hoon the lovey eyes.”

“I’m pretty sure he thinks of Kyung-hoon as a close brother.”

“No, because that’s how I used to look at Hoonie,” Hee-chul hiccups. “I couldn’t help it. Whenever he was around, I wanted to look at him all the time.”

Kyung-hoon blushes at that and he feels his heart rate going faster again. He feels confused. He wants to run away from this house and talk to someone. He wants to get away from Hee-chul and his beautiful face. But at the same time, he wants to stay here and treasure it. He’s so confused.

“You saw him, and you felt insecure?” Kyung-hoon asks.

Kyung-hoon sees Hee-chul nod.

“What makes you think you are better than Tei?”

“He’s older, more mature, makes a lot of money, can buy Hoonie lots of things and he really knows how to take care of Hoonie. Tei never pissed Hoonie off by choking his cousin and not being there to rescue him.”

“I’m pretty sure Kyung-hoon is going to think you are amazing for sticking up for him even after all that’s happened. He cut ties with you, but you still beat up two strong boys in the school for him. Tei has never done anything that big for Kyung-hoon.”

Hee-chul nods in a “I guess that makes sense” kind of way. Kyung-hoon thinks the conversation is over so he closes his eyes but Hee-chul speaks again.

“I felt so shit for breaking the promise; I was the one who said that this wouldn’t affect our friendship but then I cut ties with him.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Since the secret was out, I felt embarrassed to be near him. Also, being near him would break my heart since he doesn’t feel the same.”

“What makes you think he doesn’t feel the same?”

Hee-chul scoffs.

“If he did feel the same, he would be over the moon. He would grab me by the collar and kiss me. We would start our day one. We would be that couple that doesn’t conform to society and gives zero fucks. A power couple holding hands in the street and giving zero fucks.”

Hee-chul chuckles.

“How nice would that be?”

Hee-chul stops chuckling and Kyung-hoon can feel his mood shift. He’s sad again and the brunet knows he’s sad—even if Kyung-hoon can’t see him.

“He hasn’t done that yet,” Hee-chul deadpans.

“Maybe he’s confused about his feelings towards you and needs more time. You should give him more time because it was a lot to take in.”

Hee-chul scoffs.

“I’m a ‘go for it’ kinda guy so when I was visiting him today, I was going to give him the confession letter and kiss him. It was going to be like getting closure and having that final kiss. A goodbye kiss, if you will.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want to scare him away because he already took in a lot when I told him the story.  I did bring the letter, but I never got the chance to give it to him because Tei was there.”

“There’s nothing going on between Tei and Kyung-hoon.”

Hee-chul scoffs.

“Mom, he wants to ‘suck his dick' like Byung-jae loves mentioning.”

Kyung-hoon can’t help but laugh at that so he does. He lets out a couple of giggles and Hee-chul scoffs next to him.

“Glad you found that funny,” Hee-chul turns around and doesn’t turn towards Kyung-hoon’s side. “What a great son I am—drinking loads, talking about sex in front of his mom and having boy problems.”

Hee-chul sighs deeply and puts an arm over his eyes.

“A normal boy would have come to his mom for girl advice but here I am, queer as ever!”

Hee-chul waves his arms in the air.

“I’m so weird!”

“Hey, normal is boring. Being unique means, you are different from anyone else and you are special. Kyung-hoon likes people being their own true self and not this normal robotic self. He especially feels proud when he sees his best friend live his best truth and not be afraid of anything.”

“How do you know?” Hee-chul asks with a dopey grin on his face.

“Mamma's instinct,” Kyung-hoon answers with a matching grin.

“So, you think Kyung-hoon will like me instead of boring Tei with boring job at a law firm?”

 

Tei is a lawyer and Kyung-hoon doesn’t find that to be boring. But, that’s not important right now and not something Hee-chul wants to hear. So, yeah, Tei is boring.

 

“I should give him the confession letter then and kiss him.”

“Right!”

“Then maybe it will make his feelings clear and he will tell me how he feels.”

“Exactly!”

Hee-chul finally turns to look at the brunet. Kyung-hoon feels Hee-chul shift in the bed and realizes that Hee-chul is coming closer to Kyung-hoon.

“Thanks for the advice, Mom,” He says and leans in to peck Kyung-hoon on the lips.

 

_Wait a minute. Holy shit._

 

Did he just kiss Kyung-hoon? And did Kyung-hoon just like it? Is Kyung-hoon’s heart rate telling him that the feelings are reciprocated?

 

Kyung-hoon doesn’t let the thoughts wonder into the great beyond. Instead, his body goes on autopilot mode and he grabs Hee-chul by the collar without even thinking about it. Next thing he knows, he’s kissing Hee-chul and Hee-chul is kissing him.

His best friend isn’t even pulling away and he’s not pulling away. The kiss just deepens and deepens.

Hee-chul’s hand goes to the back of Kyung-hoon’s head and Kyung-hoon’s lips go to Hee-chul’s neck.

_And deepens._

Kyung-hoon starts biting and sucking; Hee-chul starts moaning.

_And deepens._

 

When Kyung-hoon wakes up in the morning, Hee-chul is already gone. He rubs his eyes and looks at his surroundings; he realizes he is in a different place than his bedroom and panics before remembering what happened the day before.

He remembers Hee-chul being drunk, He remembers waking up to the banging noise and finally, he remembers the passionate kiss they shared between the two.

His ears turn red and he blushes.

He then remembers he is in a different place, so he swiftly gets up from the bed and swiftly makes the bed. As he neatly makes the bed and tidies up, he wonders if Hee-chul remembers the kiss. Hee-chul was pretty drunk and he kept thinking Kyung-hoon was his mom, so he doubts that Hee-chul remembers.

He has to talk to the curly boy and let him know what happened.

 

There are several missed calls from his uncle and texts; they’re all worried texts and yells about missing school. He texts his uncle and tells him that he had to help out a friend late at night and he’s there taking care of him. It’s not a lie technically and Kyung-hoon is still an angel with a halo with it. He helped Hee-chul out when Hee-chul could have hurt himself from being intoxicated. 

His uncle texts him back saying to call the school and say you’re sick—pretending to be the uncle.

 

_Kyung-hoon: You’re in school so how the hell does that work?_

_Food giver: There’s uncle Dong Yeob. Just pretend to be him and say you’re visiting because your beloved nephew fell over from a hover board and broke his arm._

_Kyung-hoon: That’s very specific and I wouldn’t have a cast the next day._

_Food giver: Then just say you’ve got a head-ache. The bell rang, and the students are here. Bye._

 

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. At least, the caregiver is understanding and lenient so Kyung-hoon can fake sick and talk to his best friend about feelings.

_This is a weird day._

 

_Kyung-hoon: Are you still avoiding school like the plague?_

_Chullie: ????_

_Kyung-hoon: We need to talk._

 

It takes Hee-chul a long time to type and Kyung-hoon understands why he took so long. Hee-chul knows what they’re going to talk about.  He remembers it.

 

_Chullie: Meet me @ my house around 45 minutes._

 

Kyung-hoon arrives a little late because he had to call the school and fake his sick. When he rings the doorbell, Hee-chul shouts, “it’s open!”

“I’m in my room,” Hee-chul adds and Kyung-hoon starts walking towards it.

When he walks in, Hee-chul is in the bed—staring at his phone. His head rises when Kyung-hoon walks in and he puts his phone under his pillow.

“You’re here,” He says so dumbly because they both want to beat around the bush and not acknowledge why they are here. Small talk is the best thing for beating around the bush.

“I’m here.”

“Sit down,” Hee-chul says and points to the computer chair with his eyes. Kyung-hoon sits and Hee-chul’s eyes are locked towards him at all times when he moves. Kyung-hoon feels uncomfortable but he manages to say that he wants to talk about yesterday so that’s why he’s here.

“Yeah, we probably should,” Hee-chul says with an exhale.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“A little but I was hoping you’d tell me.”

“What can you remember?”

“Me going to my old house and banging on the door and you rescuing me—that’s it.”

“Oh.”

Hee-chul chuckles.

“With the way you said oh just now, I must have done something very embarrassing or very shitty; with me, it’s always one of the two.”

“I’ll let you decide,” Kyung-hoon replies and then exhales out a very long breath. Hee-chul sits there—all innocent and clueless—and it makes Kyung-hoon feel bad because he is about to be very embarrassed.

He hears Hee-chul mutter curses under his breath and he feels like that too.

“Well, you went to your old house looking for your mom and I heard the noise—only me because everyone is a heavy sleeper and are all monsters. I used the pot key to unlock the neighbors’ house and tucked you into their bedroom. You told me to stay so I slept in the same bed but then you thought you were sleeping with your mother, so you started sharing your thoughts about me to me,” He says instead.

Hee-chul’s eyes widen.

“What kind of thoughts?”

“You told me you drank because you were guilty about breaking our promise and you felt insecure when you bumped into Tei because he’s better than you and he likes me too. In fact, you were so adamant on Tei liking me.”

“Oh fuck.”

“In fact, you told me that Tei wants to blow me.”

“Oh fuck!”

Hee-chul covers his face in embarrassment by bowing his head in his hands.

“You said that you were thinking of giving me the confession letter and kissing me.”

“Fuck,” Hee-chul mumbles in his hands.

“And then stuff happened,” Kyung-hoon mumbles and Hee-chul’s head jolts up.

“What kind of stuff?”

“We kissed—twice,” Kyung-hoon mumbles.

“We kissed!?”

Kyung-hoon nods.

“One was a peck and the other time, we made out.”

Hee-chul’s eyes widen and he starts laughing hysterically. Kyung-hoon doesn’t know what to do and say so he just lets his best friend pace around the room, laughing and going insane.

“So, you’re telling me that, in my drunken state, I thought you were my mom and then I ended up making out with my mom?”

Hee-chul’s hands end up in his hair; he yanks it and starts laughing again.

“I’m such a fucking idiot, I’m such a fucking idiot,” He ends up repeating over and over.

“No, no, no!” Kyung-hoon stands up to grab hold of his hands so that he’s not yanking his hair anymore. “I instigated the second kiss.”

He interlocks their fingers together.

“You kissed me?”

“Yeah,” Kyung-hoon exhales.

“Why?”

“Because I still didn’t know how I felt about you! You tell me you’ve liked me for a long time and you tell me that this is not going to change anything. Then you suddenly go M.I.A and break your promise and that left me to ponder about my feelings and be confused at them. Maybe, if we talked like we are talking right now, I could have known my answer!”

Kyung-hoon doesn’t realise he’s shouting until Hee-chul shushes him and pulls him in his bed. Kyung-hoon sits on the bed and Hee-chul starts tracing shapes in Kyung-hoon’s wrist.

“You’re right, it was shitty for me to do that. I’m sorry.”

Kyung-hoon exhales out another breath.

“It’s okay because we are talking about it.”

Hee-chul nods.

“We are.”

Hee-chul continues tracing on the brunet’s wrist and doesn’t talk so it becomes quiet all of a sudden. Kyung-hoon remembers that he has a lot of questions to ask and a lot of things to say.

“It’s okay because you told me why you cut ties with me; I know your reasons and I accept your apology,” He says to start them off.

“OK,” Hee-chul whispers and goes back to tracing shapes. Kyung-hoon thinks he’s tracing all the different constellations and it makes him smile that Hee-chul still cares about space. It also makes him smile that he still remembers all of their names when Hee-chul named them.

“So, when did you start liking me?”

“I don’t like you,” Hee-chul says and Kyung-hoon’s eyebrows knit in confusion.

Hee-chul reaches under his pillow to take his phone out. Kyung-hoon watches him use his phone and wonders what the hell is he doing? He suddenly finds the thing he’s looking for because he gives the phone to Kyung-hoon and tells him to play the video.

So, he does.

 

The video shows four-year-old Kyung-hoon being very excited about getting a toy microphone for Christmas. The four-year-old jumps excitedly in the video and squeals and Kyung-hoon has to admit that he thinks it’s cute. The four-year-old then tells everyone to be quiet and Kyung-hoon can hear his parents giggle at Kyung-hoon. Something shatters inside Kyung-hoon.

“I’d like to make an annoucemess!”

“Announcement!” His dad yells—correcting him.

“Yeah! I will be a singer when I get older and I will buy all of you houses and cars and gold!”

The families and relatives around him applaud and Kyung-hoon starts singing in his toy microphone. The video ends just like that.

 

“Why did you show me this?” He asks Hee-chul as he hands the boy his phone back.

“I got that video from your mom when I moved to a new house because she gave it to me as a gift; I have had ten iPhones because I keep smashing them all. However, when I get a new phone, I always make sure that your video gets saved first or gets saved at all.”

Kyung-hoon knits his eyebrows in confusion because: where is this going?

“I don’t just like you Kyunghoon-ah. I’m in love with you.”

_Oh._

“I just thought you’d like to know that.”

Kyung-hoon gulps and his heart rate starts going faster and faster again.  He still manages to muster up the courage to ask Hee-chul if that was when he started loving Kyung-hoon. Hee-chul chuckles at that.

“No, I’ll tell you when I started liking you, Min Kyung-hoon.”

 

_“What did you get for your birthday?” Thirteen-year-old Kyung-hoon asked Hee-chul when Hee-chul started shaking a box in his hands to try to guess what the box contained. The box was very large, so the two boys thought it was a bike because Hee-chul’s old bike got quite rusty._

_“I’m opening it, calm down!”_

 

_It turned out to be a telescope; the eleven-year-old couldn’t stop squealing when he read the box out loud._

 

_“Why a telescope!?”_

_“I’ve always been interested in space and I want to be an astronaut when I get older. But, it’s quite hard to be an astronaut so I thought I would ask for a telescope and just look at the stars and the planets from here.”_

_“Why would you give up your dreams? You should keep pursuing it and never give up!”_

_Hee-chul scoffed._

_“Kids have different dreams all the time. I’m pretty sure I’ll say I want to be a scientist when I grow up and ask for a chemistry set in four years’ time.”_

_“Yeah, but that’s not what you like. You seemed very excited when you received that telescope, so I can tell you like space a lot. If you want to be an astronaut, then be an astronaut. And, I’m pretty sure you can do it anyway since you’re so good at everything.”_

_“I am?” Hee-chul asked—pointing to himself._

_“Yeah! So, even if it’s hard being a singer or it’s hard being an astronaut, let’s chase our dreams as best as we can and never give up! Okay!?”_

_“Okay!” Hee-chul answered with a toothy grin._

Past Kyung-hoon was very smart,” Kyung-hoon mumbles.

“Min Kyung-hoon has always been smart,” Hee-chul mumbles—locking eyes with Kyung-hoon’s. Kyung-hoon’s ears turn red and he offers a shy smile.

“When I looked into the telescope for the first time that night, I thought of you and how smart you are. How you manage to say the right thing, the wise thing all the time. It made me think of other good things about you and that’s how it started.”

Kyung-hoon’s ears go red again.

“I am so in love with you, you have no idea.”

This time, Hee-chul turns red and Kyung-hoon thinks it’s cute how red he goes. Kyung-hoon thinks about how it is so brave of Hee-chul to be this expressive about his feelings when boys are not stereo-typically like that. It makes Kyung-hoon grateful that Hee-chul is talking about all of this.

“So, are you gay?” He asks Hee-chul because _he_ is curious.

“No, demi.”

Kyung-hoon cocks his head in confusion.

“Demi-sexual which means I don’t like someone unless I have a deep connection with them,” Hee-chul bows his head and shyly smiles. “So, I guess that means we have a deep connection, Kyunghoon-ah.”

Kyung-hoon goes red again.

“What do you like about me?” Kyung-hoon asks. Suddenly, a single teardrop falls from Kyung-hoon’s eye. Kyung-hoon’s shocked at the sudden teardrop but then his hands start shaking in front of him and more tears fall from his eyes.

“Hoonie?”

He grabs hold of Hee-chul’s hands and interlocks their fingers. The brunet’s hands don’t stop shaking and the tears doesn’t stop either.

“I’m a fucking mess; I don’t deserve to be loved,” He’s saying suddenly. It shocks him immensely that these words are coming out of his mouth. He’s still shocked at the tears and the shakes, but this is like cherry on top. His best friend is looking at him with worried eyes and he’s here, crying and shaking like he’s somewhere cold.

“Why do you still love the person that cut ties with you without asking for an explanation? Why do you still love the person that won’t give you the answer to your confession? Why are you waiting on someone that everyone glares at and whispers names to?”

Kyung-hoon’s bursting into tears now. It’s getting serious.

“A killer, a criminal, a thug, I’m all these things,” Kyung-hoon exclaims with tear stained eyes. “Why me out of all these other people!?”

“Kyunghoon-ah, calm down, take it easy,” Hee-chul commands in a stern yet calm voice. He’s still got hold of the brunet’s hands and the method is kind of helping Kyung-hoon stay calm. The key word is kinda because Kyung-hoon is still shaking.

“You deserve so much more, Kim Hee-chul. You have a big heart, you know that? You still stuck by me when I threw you away and you defended me and got yourself in trouble. You shouldn’t be in love with a person that brings you trouble.”

“Kyunghoon-ah, take deep breaths,” Hee-chul commands and demonstrates it for the brunet so that he can do the same.

Kyung-hoon inhales and exhales; his cheeks puff up like a blow fish and he does that about thirty times before his heart rate slowly starts to slow down. He starts to wipe the tears in his eyes with Hee-chul’s tissues and Hee-chul doesn’t take his eyes off him at all times.

“Listen to me, okay? Can you do that?” Hee-chul asks in a calm, soothing voice. Kyung-hoon nods.

“Do you know how beautiful you are? How smart you are? How funny? Do you know how special you are?”

Kyung-hoon opens his mouth to speak but Hee-chul shushes him. Since Hee-chul’s hand is back to holding Kyung-hoon’s hand, Kyung-hoon’s hand also rises when Hee-chul shushes the brunet with his finger. After he shushes him, he kisses the brunet’s hand.

“You’re always on my mind 24/7. Like seriously, you never leave or get out of my head.”

Hee-chul laughs.

“It’s quite annoying, actually,” Hee-chul rolls his eyes. “From the morning I wake up, you’re there.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, when I eat leftovers from yesterday for breakfast, I wonder what you’re eating and if you’re eating or not. When I meet you in class, I wonder if you’ve slept well and if I need to shield you, so you can nap in class. You’re pretty much napping all the time in math, so I have to do a lot of shielding.”

“Really?” Kyung-hoon asks as he wipes his nose. Hee-chul chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you fall in love with someone.”

“I’m there now?” Kyung-hoon asks—tapping into one of Hee-chul’s temple.

“Actually, yeah, you are,” Hee-chul replies and barks out a laugh.

“What am I doing?”

“You’re not doing anything, it’s more like, I think Kyung-hoon looks good today and I want to rip that black leather shirt off his ripped body.”

Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen.

“Hey, you asked,” Hee-chul adds with a shrug.

“You really love me?”

“Yup,” Hee-chul answers and kisses his hands again.

Kyung-hoon giggles and Hee-chul kisses his hands again.

“I love you a lot more than my parents—which worries me immensely,” Hee-chul snorts. “I think I would pick you first and then my parents if questions were asked about whom to pick.”

Kyung-hoon’s mouth opens again and Hee-chul shushes him again.

“And about you saying all those things like: why are you in love with someone who threw you away? We should forget about that and just stick to the present. That story and your parents fighting is a taboo story that should never be mentioned.”

“But I did throw you away without asking for an explanation,” Kyung-hoon adds in a baby voice.

“I don’t give a fuck; I told you, I never change my mind about who I like.”

Kyung-hoon gives him a pointed look as if he’s saying: Really? Am I that special?

“You could pour hot water over me and I would thank you because I was desperate for a shower.”

Kyung-hoon giggles.

“I’m not gonna do that,” The brunet says—midst giggles.

“Try it, I won’t be mad,” Hee-chul shrugs. “Due to my behavior, I think I do need some type of holy water thrown over me.”

Kyung-hoon giggles.

“You’re not crazy,” He tells Hee-chul and Hee-chul scoffs.

“We’ll see,” He replies.

Kyung-hoon giggles again and Hee-chul finds himself laughing too. They giggle for about a minute and then suddenly Hee-chul stops and clears his throat.

“And that thing you said about you not having an answer yet, I don’t care. I will wait for you and will accept anything you tell me. You can reject me or spit on me or throw water on me. I will wait.”

Kyung-hoon’s heart rates start getting faster.

“But I will always be there for you to remind you how beautiful you are and how special you are,” Hee-chul kisses his hand. “I feel so guilty for not being there for you when you were going through shit so now, I promise to always be there for you.”

Kyung-hoon’s tears start to well up in his eyes again.

“The way you broke down in front of me really broke my heart today because I realised that no one has told you that you’re beautiful in such a long time. You deserve to hear that every single day and I will make sure that you do.”

Kyung-hoon sniffles. He’s on the verge of tears.

“And never say that I don’t deserve you because I will only love you. I love you because it’s you.”

Tears start to fall in Kyung-hoon’s eyes and he finds himself pulling Hee-chul into a hug.

“Shit, I’m gonna ruin your shirt,” He whispers in the other boy’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, I was gonna throw it out anyway,” His best friend replies.

Kyung-hoon starts bawling on Hee-chul’s shoulder.

 

When he wakes up, Hee-chul is gone and he is sleeping in Hee-chul’s bed. He must have fallen asleep after crying so hard and Hee-chul must have tucked him in. He can find Hee-chul’s sleeping bag on the floor—the same one Kyung-hoon used when he was young—so he knows he’s correct.

Kyung-hoon wonders where he’s gone until he finds a post it notes pasted in his arm.

_Gone to get breakfast or brunch for you and me. We were out of eggs._

_-   Chullie._

As much as he would love to stay and eat breakfast, he wants to go home and speak to someone about what happened.  He experienced so many different feelings yesterday; speaking to Hee-chul about their relationship and how they each feel makes Kyung-hoon want to find the answer immediately, so he has to go.

He gets up from the bed and stretches to get rid of back pains and aches. He looks around the room for his phone and his jacket and finds them on Hee-chul’s desk. He picks all of them up and as he puts on his jacket, he feels fascinated at how long he slept for. He came to Hee-chul’s house around 1 in the afternoon and it’s now 1 in the afternoon the next day. It is almost 12 hours if you exclude the time they chatted and cried and expressed feelings.

Speaking of feelings?

He really has to go.

 

He grabs all his belongings and manages to head home without anyone stopping him and asking him if he wants breakfast. He had written a reply to the post it note so he hopes Hee-chul understands. Even if he lied and said that his uncle wants him home so that’s why he left.

 

_Uncle Jang-hoon is at work though. Hmm._

 

Oh wait! There’s still Uncle Dong Yeob—his trusty old pal in times of needs and lies. Yeah, he can come from Brunei to visit him. Tei hyung did. Yeah, Dong Yeob can be the father figure that wants him home. Yes, he’ll use that.

 

When he gets home—after a thirty-minute walk—he notices no one is home. He shouts and Tei hyung doesn’t answer. He wasn’t expecting his uncle to say hi.  He knows his uncle is teaching kids how to stay fit and what the best way to cough up your lungs is. He’s not here to offer relationship advice. So, Tei hyung is your go to guy. And, he’s not here!

He finds a note on his refrigerator.

_Gone to visit my parents. Will be back after a week_

_\- Ho-kyung_

 

Dammit! Just when he needs a heart to heart, no one is here. Not even Uncle Shin Dong Yeob who is his favorite out of all the relatives (Don’t tell his guardian.)

 

He goes to grab something out of the fridge when suddenly, he remembers the one person he can contact in times of emergency.

 

_Kyung-hoon: You home?_

_Mother: Yeah, why?_

 

No, he is not texting his mother in heaven. If he did that, he would have lots of questions to answer and lots of scolding to listen to. He hopes there never will be a texting service where you can contact the dead. He already thinks Ouija boards are creepy.

 

_Kyung-hoon: Need to talk. Can I come over?_

_Mother: Yeah, course._

_Kyung-hoon: You got food?_

_Mother: Ramen noodles in a pot. That’s what I ate and that’s what you’ll eat._

_Kyung-hoon: You lazy bitch._

_Mother: =D_

_Kyung-hoon: I’ll be there in an hour. Leave the door open for me._

_Mother: I know what to do! Just come and bother me so you can leave instantly._

_Kyung-hoon: I’m grateful for such nice friends._

_Mother: =D_

 

He rolls his eyes and slips his wallet in the back pocket of his jeans. He needs his bus pass if he’s going to Woo-hyun’s house.

 

The front door is open just like Kyung-hoon asked. It makes him smile a little because: simple pleasures are good in life and this is one of his. He goes straight to the kitchen to make the noodles and Woo-hyun walks in.

“You look like shit,” He says when he gets a good look at Kyung-hoon.

“Nice to see you too.”

Woo-hyun rolls his eyes.

“Bring your noodles upstairs so we can chat and get this over and done with,” Woo-hyun pats him on the back. “There’s homemade kimchi in the fridge if you want that too with your ramen.”

“Duh,” Kyung-hoon answers and Woo-hyun rolls his eyes again.

“Don’t be long, son,” He yells before he goes upstairs.

 

Kyung-hoon’s noodles are ready and he goes upstairs into Woo-hyun’s room. When he goes in, Woo-hyun tells him to be careful because he doesn’t want ramen soup on his bed sheets. It makes him roll his eyes and he ends up sitting in the computer desk chair to stop him from having a heart attack.

“So, why have you come to bother me?” Woo-hyun asks as Kyung-hoon sips the soup.

Kyung-hoon sips the soup, eats some noodles and exhales out a big breath. It looks like he sighed because the soup is good and it’s satisfying to sip it but no, Kyung-hoon is nervous to talk about this.

“It’s about relationship advice,” He ends up saying after a long silence. He’s pretty sure Woo-hyun knew about this and wanted Kyung-hoon to say it out loud. The first step to fixing a problem is to admit you have a problem.

_That’s not good advice by the way._

“Stuff like: how can you tell you like a person?”

“Does this have anything to do with Kim Hee-chul?”

Woo-hyun knows it’s about him yet he’s letting Kyung-hoon say it first. He should know because he was there when Hee-chul confessed. Another person will not confess to Kyung-hoon, so it is Hee-chul. He’s not that popular.

Kyung-hoon remains silent which is not helpful in his case because that further proves it. Woo-hyun smirks at his response and Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“Why don’t you tell me how you feel around him?”

“What do you mean?”

“Does your heart race when he touches you or does something nice to you?”

Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen and his friend chuckles.

“And does something twist in your gut when you see him with someone else?”

Kyung-hoon’s eyes widen. It’s not just Hani; he finds himself feeling sick when Hee-chul goes to talk to someone in the art room. Hee-chul is very expressive towards people and enjoys a lot of skinship so Kyung-hoon has to tolerate with Hee-chul touching other people.

“It happened when I met Hani for the first time—his close friend—and he hugged her,” Kyung-hoon sighs in defeat. “And I guess, I get a little annoyed when he touches people and is nice to them.”

“Then, I guess you like him back.”

Kyung-hoon inhales and exhales a lot of breaths.

_Yeah, I guess I do like him._

“I guess I never really thought about the signs because I’ve never liked someone,” Kyung-hoon says and exhales again.

“It’s weird that you haven’t liked someone before,” Woo-hyun taps his chin. “Are you sure you haven’t liked Hee-chul all this time?”

Kyung-hoon thinks hard—tapping his chin and looking for memories.

 

_“Why are you so excited? He only went to Japan for two weeks,” His mom said to eleven-year-old Kyung-hoon who had been waiting in the living room for a long time for his best friend who was coming back from vacation._

_Suddenly, his mom didn’t get to elaborate because the doorbell rang and Kyung-hoon bolted from his seat towards his front door._

_When he opened the door, he was met with Hee-chul opening his arms and grinning from ear to ear. Kyung-hoon wasted no time to slip into those arms._

_His mom scoffed._

_“Kids,” She muttered._

_They hugged and broke apart after about thirty seconds. Hee-chul’s parents had already accepted that this was going to happen, so they walked in as soon as Hee-chul hugged Kyung-hoon; by the time the two best friends were finished with their hugs, the parents were already seated on the couch._

_Kyung-hoon interlocked their hands and took Hee-chul to the living room. That is when he noticed something different because Kyung-hoon’s mom pointed it out._

_“Heechul-ah, you got your hair permed!” She exclaimed—pointing to his hair._

_“And his ears pierced!” Hee-chul’s mom added proudly and Hee-chul detached their hands to show Kyung-hoon’s parents the tiny hoop earrings he’s wearing._

_“Oh, how pretty!” Hee-chul’s mom beamed and his dad nodded in agreement of his wife._

_“Your curls suit you more than your straight hair!” Kyung-hoon’s mom said and this time, her husband agreed with his wife._

_“Doesn’t he look pretty, Kyunghoon-ah?” Hee-chul’s mom asked the brunet and his best friend turned around to look at Kyung-hoon with doe eyes and a gentle smile._

_His heart rate started racing and he found himself swallowing his spit._

_“Yeah,” He choked._

_Hee-chul gave him a crinkly smile and his heart rate started speeding up again._

 

“Fuck, I like Hee-chul.”

“That’s what I said, you idiot!”

“I might even be in love with him because I’ve been feeling this way since I was eleven years old.”

“Well, there is a saying that if you like someone for more than six months, you’re in love,” Woo-hyun shrugs. “It might be true.”

“What’s the difference?” Kyung-hoon asks after having a minor mental breakdown.

“Well, when you’re in love with someone, you want to be with the person all the time and you can’t stop thinking about the person. You can’t imagine being with someone else; when you’re crushing, it goes away because you can imagine being with someone else. With your case, it looks like you’re in love, kid.”

“But I don’t think about him all the time,” Kyung-hoon points out.

“Yeah, but you’ve not liked anyone and not gone on one date. I think, subconsciously, you’ve always loved him, but you didn’t realize it until his feelings came out. It made you think hard and deep about it and it brought out your true feelings.”

Kyung-hoon nods; everything is making sense.

“And you also told me the story about Hani and how jealous you got. Maybe him being touchy with someone else made you territorial and made you slowly acknowledge the little flutters you get when you’re near him.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re 100% in love with him and you should go to him instead of hanging out with me and ruining my day off.”

Kyung-hoon bolts up from his seat; in the heated discussion, he forgot about his ramen, so it is now cold, and the soup is all dried up. Kyung-hoon looks guiltily at the bowl and Woo-hyun rolls his eyes. 

“Forget about the ramen bowl and go! I’ll throw it in the trash, it’s no big deal.”

“I should go?”

“Duh,” Woo-hyun answers—imitating Kyung-hoon from earlier.

 

He starts making his way towards the door and Woo-hyun starts whooping and cheering as he leaves. When his hand touches the doorknob, his body freezes.

“What’s wrong?” Woo-hyun asks with a worried voice,

“I’m scared,” He admits and feels proud for saying that. He thought he was going to keep it deep within himself.

“Of what? Rejection?” His friend asks with a scoff.

Kyung-hoon brisk walks back to his seat and plops down.

“Hee-chul told me that he was demi-sexual which is where you like someone you have a deep connection with. But what am I? Am I gay because I like boys? How do I label myself? And when I _do_ label myself, I’m gonna get more shit than I already did. I’m a murderer that kisses boys in their free time—isn’t that nice?”

Woo-hyun inches closer to Kyung-hoon and places a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to do anything Kyunghoon-ah. All you have to do is like who you like and do what you want to do. Labeling yourself is not mandatory and not something you need to do instantly. If you do what you do and later down the road, you find yourself finding comfort in an identity, then great! If you can’t then that’s okay too. You are valid and important in both of those scenarios.”

Woo-hyun barks out a laugh.

“And that thing about you getting shit for having a relationship with a boy, well your boyfriend can take care of that. He took care of two of the strongest boys in your school and sent them both to the nurse. I think you’ll be fine.”

Kyung-hoon snorts out a laugh. It’s so weird that Kim Hee-chul, a lanky kid with heavy makeup and a teacher’s pet attitude did that to those boys. He’s a great guy.

_A guy I’m in love with._

“Trust me, they do wrestling in their free time and it only took Hee-chul a short time to send them both to the nurses. He’s a good kid.”

_A kid I’m in love with._

“Ugh, I was so happy when Jang-in came to the convenience store with a bandage on his nose. I wanted to hug the person that did that to him,” Woo-hyun balls his hands into fists and he shows Kyung-hoon. “They come to the store making grunting and hooting noises. It’s like they’re chimps not men.”

Kyung-hoon laughs.

“He’s a good guy Kyunghoon-ah,” Woo-hyun taps his shoulders three times. “And you should go to him.”

“Okay,” Kyung-hoon answers—biting his lip to hide his smile.

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Let’s not have a fault in our stars moment,” Woo-hyun says in mere disgust.

“I knew you read the book! You told me it was your girlfriend’s! You lied, Yoon Woo-hyun!”

“Whatever! It’s the thing of the past; get out of my house!” Woo-hyun answers and shoves Kyung-hoon so that the brunet stands.

Kyung-hoon stands, cackles as he makes his way to the door and knows Woo-hyun is flipping him the bird. They’ve known each other for too long. They know each other’s moves.

But before he shuts the door on his way out, he calls out Woo-hyun’s name.

“Yes?” He answers in an exasperated tone.

“Your girlfriend…”

“Yeah?”

“Were you in love with her?”

“Yeah,” He exhales after a while.

“Oh.”

“But we were nothing compared to you and Hee-chul,” Woo-hyun adds and then grins widely. Kyung-hoon mirrors the grin and the door shuts with Woo-hyun wishing him good luck with a cursed word at the end of the sentence.

He’s grateful for Woo-hyun’s existence.

 

In the bus back to Hee-chul’s, he can’t stop thinking about the conversation he had with Woo-hyun and all the things that were said. The thoughts spiral into scenarios of him kissing Hee-chul and finally answering his question and Kyung-hoon’s ears go red.  The scenarios have so many possibilities; he thinks of every single one—making him more nervous and anxious. It makes him shut his music off and he angrily takes the earbuds out of his ears. It doesn’t help that the next bus stop is his.

After thirty minutes of torture with his spiralling thoughts, he’s finally at Hee-chul’s. He takes a couple of deep breaths and when he’s calmed down slightly, he rings the doorbell.

“It’s open!” His best friend yells at the other side. It makes his heart rate faster. He’s really doing this.

He walks in and Hee-chul comes to the front door to see who it is. When they lock eyes, Hee-chul’s eyes widen slightly.

“You’re back.”

“Yup,” Kyung-hoon says—popping the P.

“Why? Did you leave something?”

Kyung-hoon shakes his head. On the inside, his heart is racing.  On his pockets, his hands are trembling. Everything is moving in a fast speed.

“Oh, okay,” Hee-chul points to the kitchen. “You want some eggs and sausage?”

Kyung-hoon shakes his head. He inches closer to Hee-chul and Hee-chul’s eyes widen at the sudden movement.

“I came because I wanted to do something,” Kyung-hoon says—stammering his words a little.

“What?”

“This,” Kyung-hoon concludes and then walks over to Hee-chul in a fast, impatient manner. When he’s close, his hands go to each of Hee-chul’s cheeks and his lips go to Hee-chul’s pink, rosy lips.

 

They’re kissing.  They’re kissing.  Holy fuck, they’re kissing.

 

They’re exploring each other’s lips with their tongues, they’re tilting heads and deepening the kiss, they’re exploring bodies and hairs with their nimble fingers and they’re breaking off the kiss and going back into it once again.  After the tenth time of breaking off the kiss and leaning in, Kyung-hoon slips in his tongue and Hee-chul accepts.  And in the eleventh time, Kyung-hoon takes his lips to Hee-chul’s neck. 

 

They did this when Hee-chul was drunk and didn’t manage to finish what they wanted to start. And today, Kyung-hoon will finish what they started and take in everything that is Kim Hee-chul. His lips. His touch. His smell. His taste.  His heart. His everything.

 

_He’s everything._

 

“Kyunghoon-ah, Kyunghoon-ah, stop,” Hee-chul begs and Kyung-hoon whines a little.

“I’m happy that we’re kissing but we need to talk about this,” He adds as he laughs because Kyung-hoon is so impatient and not listening to anything Hee-chul is saying.  How can he when he's so in love? God, he’s so in love with this boy and he feels like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

I’m in love with you and right now, I want to devour you here—right in this place.”

Hee-chul pushes Kyung-hoon off and Kyung-hoon locks eyes with the boy he’s in love with.

“You love me?” Hee-chul asks with a wide toothed grin.

“Ever since I was eleven,” Kyung-hoon answers and goes to lean in again. Hee-chul leans back and Kyung-hoon pouts.

“That’s the same as me,” Hee-chul says instead.

“No, I was thirteen when you were eleven,” Kyung-hoon replies with a laugh.

“I was still eleven though,” Hee-chul says and Kyung-hoon takes the curly brunet’s hand and gives it a kiss. Hee-chul did that to him a lot yesterday so he needs to return the favor. Not that he’s complaining though. He would love to return the favor.

“What made you realize your feelings?” Hee-chul asks as Kyung-hoon starts kissing his other hand and his lips start going to Hee-chul’s wrist.

“I talked to Woo-hyun.”

Hee-chul snorts.

Kyung-hoon stops kissing to give Hee-chul a hard stare.

“Woo-hyun is very wise and very good at advice. He was the one who made me realize that I’ve been in love with you all this time and I just didn’t give it a thought. I realised my true feelings when you told me yours and I realized that I want to be with you forever.”

Kyung-hoon gives him a pointed look.

“Don’t underestimate him.”

Hee-chul leans in to give him a peck to say: okay I’m sorry, and Kyung-hoon starts to deepen the kiss. Hee-chul doesn’t let him though which is quite infuriating. Kyung-hoon pouts when Hee-chul breaks off the kiss and gives Hee-chul the puppy dog eyes. Hee-chul rolls his eyes and finally agrees to do what Kyung-hoon wants. He lets the brunet know by kissing his neck.

“You smell good, my love,” He muffles in Kyung-hoon’s neck.

A kiss in the neck and a moan from Kyung-hoon’s mouth.

“Tell me the name of your perfume so I can buy you thousands of bottles of this.”

Another kiss and this time, a bite and a suck.  Kyung-hoon’s undivided attention is on Hee-chul’s mouth and not on the fact that he’s wearing the perfume that Tei hyung gave to him as a gift. So, he lets the curly brunet know that it’s Hugo Boss that Tei hyung gave him.

Hee-chul stops trying to take Kyung-hoon’s sweatshirt off him and Kyung-hoon whines again.

“He gave you perfume?” Hee-chul exclaims.

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes.

“Yes, because he’s a close friend that I deem as a big brother.  Big brothers give their younger brothers gifts. He means nothing to me.”

Kyung-hoon grabs a hold of his hand and their fingers interlock again.

“You mean the most to me,” He says—locking his eyes with Hee-chul’s.

“Really?”

Kyung-hoon nods and then his lips go back to where it truly belongs. Hee-chul giggles into the kiss and Kyung-hoon’s heart soars at the sound of his giggles.

“I can just buy you even more expensive perfume instead of being jealous,” Hee-chul says as he pecks Kyung-hoon’s lips and Kyung-hoon giggles this time.

“That’s not necessary,” He says and grabs a hold of Hee-chul’s hair to tilt his head back, so he can kiss his throat. They’re getting bolder. They both know what they want and they’re impatient about it.  Kyung-hoon can definitely tell he’s impatient from the way he sucks a bruise into Hee-chul’s throat.

“I can buy you expensive stuff,” Hee-chul moans. “Remember I bought you that Black Ops game?”

“Oh yeah! You did!”

Kyung-hoon grabs his hair again and tilts so that Hee-chul is looking into his eyes.

“You are quite the charmer,” Kyung-hoon says and Hee-chul laughs.

“Yes, I am.”

Kyung-hoon chuckles.

“I can buy you anything—even new lip rings that you can wear alternatively.”

Kyung-hoon arches an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah?” Kyung-hoon says with a bit of a challenge in his voice.

“I am into men who can pull off lip rings,” Hee-chul says seductively and Kyung-hoon frowns when he says that.

“What men?” He says with a sad pout.

Hee-chul cackles. 

“I was trying to talk dirty, but you took it the wrong way, babe,” Hee-chul says—midst laughter.

“Oh.”

Hee-chul laughs again; it’s loud, it’s booming, it resembles a hyena but it’s perfect. It makes Kyung-hoon smile and it makes his little heart soar.

“I love you so much,” Hee-chul says and leans back into the kiss.

“I love you more,” Kyung-hoon answers before kissing him.

Hee-chul shakes his head.

“Not possible.”

Kyung-hoon moves his lips from Hee-chul’s lips to Hee-chul’s ear.

“If we shut up and get to where we want to go, I will show you how much I love you,” Kyung-hoon whispers into Hee-chul’s ear.  Hee-chul moans at that.

“Anything for you, beautiful,” He says and lets Kyung-hoon take his T-shirt off.

 

And what happened after that? Well…………..let’s just say that the next day, Kyung-hoon had to borrow Hee-chul’s turtleneck because his sweatshirt is not appropriate for the weather. And because, he got something in his neck.

* * *

 

**-                EPILOGUE                                      -**

“So, you lost it then,” Junki asks.

He had worn the turtleneck to the next hangout and the boys had been confused about why he was wearing that.  That had resulted to the boys wrestling Kyung-hoon off the ground and forcing him to take the jumper off.

Well, his boyfriend’s jumper.

He had lost the battle between his friends and the boys had found Kyung-hoon’s hickey on his neck.

And many other hickeys doted everywhere around his chest.

“Isn’t it a fail if you just blow him? Doesn’t virginity have to do with the actual sex?” Sung-hee asks and Junki rolls his eyes.

“Look at his chest! Do you really think he just blew his boyfriend’s dick!?” Junki exclaims.

“You can give hickeys and just blow a person! Does blowjobs mean no hickeys then!?” Sung-hee yells back.  Woo-hyun snorts from his corner of the room but the pair don't hear him because they're still discussing unnecessary shit.

Kyung-hoon face-palms and Ye-jun notices him suffering. He tells Kyung-hoon to put his jumper back on so that the hickeys are not in plain sight.

“Why don’t you just ask Kyung-hoon what he did?” Woo-hyun suggests in a monotone voice.  Kyung-hoon is thankful that he’s not excited by this unlike his two friends who are very obsessed with his sex life. He's grateful for Ye-jun hyung too who is pondering his existence and whether or not he made the right choice of his friends.

Junki suddenly slaps Sung-hee on the face.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t asked Hee-chul about the fight!” Junki yells.

“Well, how the fuck am I supposed to know Hee-chul would confess his feelings!?” Sung-hee yells back.

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes, face-palms and wishes that he was dead right now. He can’t stand it anymore when Sung-hee asks if he did anal sex and goes to the kitchen to call someone.

“Hey boyfriend,” He greets when the person picks up and ignores the fight happening in the background.

“Hey boyfriend,” Hee-chul parrots back.

And just like that, his mood slowly lifts.  As he tells Hee-chul about the fight happening in the background, he thinks about the fact that out of all those names he’s gotten from people, boyfriend is the best one.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So? What do you think? Do you think Kyungchul did the dirty?
> 
> Who topped?
> 
> (Lol, just kidding. You don't have to answer that in the comments.)  
> And now a couple of notes from the author before we wave goodbye:
> 
>   * Kyung-hoon and Hee-chul's scene were written just now so I'm sorry if it is crap. i tried my best to make it sound nice so that you can get the feels and squeal in excitement at them. I was going to write smut but I felt like it didn't need any and this was a good way to conclude it. Maybe someone else can write the smut or maybe I will next time. Or maybe I won't. I'm not good at writing them
>   * The way Kyung-hoon cries and shakes is exactly what I go through when I get an anxiety attack. I gave that experience to Kyung-hoon. I wanted Kyung-hoon to have a mental health issue and that to be like a sub plot but I decided to keep it open and imply that he has one. He could? Or maybe not? We might explore it further or I might just let you guys interpret it.
>   * The characters and their backgrounds are not 100% fictional and some information does come from references to real life. I didn't want to make it 100% fictional and use some references to make it easier for myself.  So, please don't attack me! ELFS, I-rockins, Knowing Brothers fandom. 
>   * I don't know what the Korean school system is like so I wrote this based on American high school stories. So sorry if I cocked it up.
>   * The language is American English as well because I wanted to make it easier for readers. If i wrote it in my language which is British, I would confuse the hell out of all of you.
>   * The fic is alternatively called Eleven because the characters both fell in love at age eleven. That is why it's in the brackets of the name
>   * The Buzz members and their friendship in this fic is inspired by Buzz's Travel to me music video
>   * Kyung-hoon is twenty in this fic because Hee-chul is eighteen and a high-school student. It's not weird to pursue education in your twenties. It's never too late, kids.
>   * Do you think Tei is in love with Kyung-hoon?
> 

> 
> That's it for my author's notes. Thank you for reading my story and leaving kudos! 
> 
> Make sure to let me know what you think in the comments.
> 
> Or you can tweet me and stalk me at: @aftereffectsx
> 
>  
> 
> I'll see you in my next fic!
> 
>  
> 
> Byeeeee!
> 
>  
> 
> ^_^


End file.
